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Translated Texts for Historians

300-800 AD is the time of late antiquity and the early middle ages: the
transformation of the classical world, the beginnings of Europe and of Islam,
and the evolution of Byzantium. TTH makes available sources translated
from Greek, Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Arabic, Georgian, Gothic and Armenian.
Each volume provides an expert scholarly translation, with an introduction
setting texts and authors in context, and with notes on content, interpretation
and debates.

Editorial Committee

Sebastian Brock, Oriental Institute, University of Oxford

Averil Cameron, Keble College, Oxford

Marios Costambeys, University of Liverpool

Carlotta Dionisotti, King’s College, London

Peter Heather, King’s College, London

Robert Hoyland, University of Oxford

William E. Klingshirn, The Catholic University of America

Michael Lapidge, Clare College, Cambridge

John Matthews, Yale University

Neil McLynn, Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Richard Price, Heythrop College, University of London

Claudia Rapp, Institut fiir Byzantinistik und Neograzistik, Universitat Wien

Judith Ryder, University of Oxford

Raymond Van Dam, University of Michigan

Michael Whitby, University of Birmingham

Ian Wood, University of Leeds

General Editors

Gillian Clark, University of Bristol
Mark Humphries, Swansea University
Mary Whitby, University of Oxford

Cover illustration: Representation of a fourth-century Alamannic soldier.

A full list of published titles in the Translated Texts for Historians
series is available on request. The most recently published are
shown below.

Bede: On Genesis

Translated with introduction and notes by CALVIN B. KENDALL

Volume 48: 371pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-088-1

Nemesius: On the Nature of Man

Translated with introduction and notes by R. W. SHARPLES and R J. VAN DER EIJK

Volume 49: 283pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-132-1

Sources for the History of the School of Nisibis

Translated with introduction and notes by ADAM H. BECKER

Volume 50: 217pp., 2008, ISBN 978-1-84631-161-1

Acts of the Council of Constantinople of 553:
with related texts on the Three Chapters Controversy

Translated with an introduction and notes by RICHARD PRICE

Volume 51, 2 vols, 384pp + 360pp, 2009, ISBN 9781846311789

Three Political Voices from the Age of Justinian: Agapetus - Advice to the Emperor,
Dialogue on Political Science, Paul the Silentiary - Description of Hagia Sophia

Translated with notes and an introduction by PETER N. BELL

Volume 52: 249pp, ISBN 978-1-84631-209-0

History and Hagiography from the Late Antique Sinai

DANIEL F. CANER, with contributions by SEBASTIAN BROCK, RICHARD M. PRICE
and KEVIN VAN BLADEL

Volume 53: 346pp, ISBN 978-1-84631-216-8

Orosius: Seven Books of History against the Pagans

Translated with introduction and notes by A. T. FEAR

Volume 54: 456pp., 2010; ISBN 978-1-84631-473-5 cased, 978-1-84631-239-7 limp

The Chronicle of Pseudo-Zachariah Rhetor: Church and War in Late Antiquity

Translated by GEOFFREY GREATREX, with ROBERT PHENIX and CORNELIA HORN;
introductory material by SEBASTIAN BROCK and WITOLD WITAKOWSKI

Volume 55: forthcoming 2010; ISBN 978-1-84631-493-3 cased, 978-1-84631-494-0 limp

Bede: On the Nature of Things and On Times

Translated with introduction and notes by CALVIN B. KENDALL and FAITH WALLIS

Volume 56: 371pp., 2010, ISBN 978-1-84631-495-7

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Translated Texts for Historians
Volume 32

The Chronicle of
Pseudo-Joshua
the Stylite

Translated with notes and introduction by
FRANK R. TROMBLEY and JOHN W. WATT

Liverpool

University

Press

First published 2000
Liverpool University Press
4 Cambridge Street
Liverpool, L69 7ZU

The author’s rights have been asserted in aecordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
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ISBN 978-0-85323-585-9

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Content, Structure, and Literary Character
Transmission, Authorship, and Date
Historical Value

Sixth Century Mesopotamian Society
A Note on Chronological Systems

xii
xxi

XXX

xxxvii

SIGLA

TRANSLATION

APPENDIX: The Fortifications of Amid

120

BIBLIOGRAPHY

121

INDEXES

Glossary of Selected Terms
Index of Biblical References
Index of Persons and Places
General Index

137

143

145

155

MAPS AND PLANS

171

PREFACE

Few texts in an oriental language can be of such interest to students of
the Graeco-Roman world as the ‘Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite’, first
published with a French translation by Martin in 1876, and then with an
English translation by Wright in 1882. English-speaking students have
been well served by this translation of Wright, but a century is a long
time, and the student of today deserves a more modem translation and
annotations elucidating the text from the scholarly literature of the
twentieth century, rather than that of the nineteenth. German-speaking
students have recently been provided with such a volume by A. Luther,
whose book appeared while the present work was being completed.
We have limited our commentary specifically to the late fifth and early
sixth centuries, concentrating on certain pragmatic questions raised by
the chronicle. We are much concerned with the literary and social
ethos in which ps.-Joshua moved and acted, and with the sharp
understanding he reveals of provincial economics, military operations,
and the administrative apparatus of the Prefecture of Oriens. We see
our work and that of Luther as complementary, but have taken an
independent line in areas where the discussion overlaps, wherever
possible giving a new reading to the sources.

The present translation and commentary is a joint project, and in
theory the co-authors are both responsible for its contents. In practice,
however, there were spheres of responsibility where each of us felt
particularly at home. In general, John Watt was responsible for literary
and philological matters, Frank Trombley for the historical. The
translation of the Syriac text is the work of John Watt, as are the
sections on literary analysis in the introduction and commentary. Frank
Trombley dealt with ps.-Joshua’s historical value and the
Mesopotamian context in the introduction, and is responsible for the
historical commentary in the footnotes to the translation. He also
drafted the Maps, which were then finalised by the TTH’s map-maker.
Most of the footnotes were written by a single author, but some contain
material from the hands of both.

Vlll

PREFACE

In a work such as this, complete consistency in the rendering of
names and special terms is virtually impossible, at least without
producing many unfamiliar and barely recognisable forms. For names
occurring in the chronicle, we have generally adopted the form closest
to that used by the Syriac author. Thus, for example, we use ‘Kawad’
(which also best represents the Middle Persian) rather than ‘Kavad’,
‘Cavades’, etc. The major exception here is our use of ‘Edessa’, rather
than the unfamiliar Syriac ‘Orhai’. Other Greek names are usually
given in their Latinised forms, although there are some exceptions, and
most other Iranian personal and place names follow the system of
transliteration used in the Cambridge History of Iran. In the notes
cities and geographical features are frequently designated by their
Syriac and Graeco-Latin names (e.g. Mabbug-Hierapolis), and in the
translation loan words from Greek or Latin with a technical meaning
are transliterated, sometimes with slight Anglicisation (e.g. hyparch).

We are greatly indebted to a number of colleagues for advice,
suggestions, and constructive criticism. We should like especially to
acknowledge the help of the readers, Sebastian Brock and Michael
Whitby, and of the editor, Mary Whitby, who also guided us through
the whole project with constant care and encouragement. Other
scholars who kindly gave us advice on particular questions are Peter
Brown, Peter Clark, Geoffrey Greatrex, Clive Havard, Antonio Irranca,
Johannes Koder, Gareth Leyshon, John Nesbitt, and Richard
Stephenson. We received much assistance in the preparation of the
indexes from Alexandra Clark, and in the copy-editing of the book
from Regine May. To all of them we wish to express our gratitude.

ABBREVIATIONS

BAR

BCH

BMGS

CHI

CIG

CIL

Cod. lust.

Cod. Theod.

CSCO, Script. Syri
DA CL

DHGE

DOP

EHR

FHG

GCS

HGM

Anatolian Studies
British Archaeological Reports
Bulletin de Correspondance
Hellenique

Byzantine and Modern Greek
Studies

Byzantinische Zeitschrift
Cambridge History of Iran
Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum
Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
Corpus luris Civilis II: Codex
lustinianus, ed. P. Krueger (Berlin,
1954).

Theodosiani Libri XVI cum
Constitutionibus Sirmondianis, ed.
Th. Mommsen, P. Krueger and P.
M. Mayer, I-II (Berlin, 1905).
Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum
Orientalium, Scriptores Syri
Dictionnaire d'archeologie
chretienne et de liturgie, edd. F.
Cabrol and H. Leclercq (Paris,
1903-50).

Dictionnaire d’histoire et de
geographie ecclesiastique
Damaszener Mitteilungen
Dumbarton Oaks Papers
English Historical Review
Encyclopaedia of Islam
Fragmenta Historicorum
Graecorum, ed. C. Muller, I-V
(Paris, 1841-70)

Die Griechischen Christlichen
Schriftsteller der ersten
Jahrhunderte
Historici Graeci Minores

ABBREVIATIONS

HTR

Harvard Theological Review

IGLS

Inscriptions grecques et latines de
la Syrie

IGRR

Inscriptiones graeca ad res
romanas pertinentes

JHS

Journal of Hellenic Studies

JSAI

Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and
Islam

JRS

Journal of Roman Studies

Mus

Le Museon

ODB

Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium

PECS

The Princeton Encyclopedia of
Classical Sites

PLRE

The Prosopography of the Later
Roman Empire

Patrologia Orientalis

P.Oxy.

The Oxyrhynchus Papyri

RAC

Reallexikon filr Antike und
Christentum, ed. Th. Klauser et alii
(Stuttgart, 1950-).

REA

Revue des Etudes Armeniennes

ROC

Revue de VOrient Chretien

SEG

Supplementum Epigraphicum
Graecum

Travaux et Memoires

TTH

Translated Texts for Historians

INTRODUCTION

The text known as the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite or the Chronicle
of Pseudo-Joshua^ is appropriately described by its title, A Historical
Narrative of the Period of Distress which occurred in Edessa, Amid,
and all Mesopotamia. It is as well at the outset, however, to make clear
that ‘the period of distress’ covers the years 494-506 A.D., and divides
into two ‘distresses’: a plague of locusts, famine, and epidemic which
afflicted Edessa and the surrounding region from 494 to 502; and the
war between the Persian king Kawad and the Byzantine emperor
Anastasius fought out in the area of Northern Mesopotamia between
502 and 506. The text is well known to students of Syriac literature as
the earliest extant work of Syriac historiography, but it is of special
interest to historians of late antiquity both for its astonishingly detailed
account of the life of an East Roman city in a period of strain, and as
the fullest account of the Romano-Persian war of 502-506. While the
name of the author is unknown, as is the exact date of composition,
there can be little doubt that the writer was close to the events he
describes, and the text is therefore a document of great historical
importance for the period with which it deals. We shall in due course
indicate some of the ways in which it sheds light on the history of the
period, but it seems best to begin with a general description of the
work, and then to discuss the various problems of origin and
transmission, before turning to the issue of its historical value.

‘ The grounds for ascribing the work to a ‘Pseudo-Joshua’ are discussed below, pp.

xxiv-xxvi.

Xll

INTRODUCTION

CONTENT, STRUCTURE, AND LITERARY CHARACTER
The work falls quite naturally into five principal divisions:

(1) Prooemium addressed to an abbot named Sergius (§§ 1-6)

(2) An account of political relationships and events in the two empires
leading up to the outbreak of war in 502 A.D. (§§ 7-24)

(3) A chronicle of events in Edessa during 494-502 A.D., years of
pestilence, famine and plague (§§ 25-46a)

(4) A history of the war from 502 to 506 A.D. (§§ 46b-100)

(5) Epilogue addressed to Sergius (§101)

It will be appropriate to consider in turn each division.

Prooemium (§§ 1-6)

In the prooemium, the author declares that, in response to a request
from the abbot Sergius for an account of the famine and the war, he
will write such an account, despite his inadequacy for the task. He had
in fact already considered doing this, but had put it aside on the
grounds of his feebleness and ignorance. Now, however, prompted by
Sergius, who is motivated by concern for the present and future
members of his monastery, he cannot refuse to do so, although he is by
no means so well fitted to the task as Sergius has claimed. Sergius
himself could have performed it much better, but in his love for the
author, he has requested him to fulfil it, a love surpassing even that of
Jonathan for David and comparable to that of David for the
undeserving Saul. Sergius has asked him to write it in words of grief
and sorrow, so as to lead those who read it to repent of their sins, but he
can only write a plain and truthful account. This plain account,
however, will in itself be sufficient to lead men to repentance.

INTRODUCTION

Xlll

It is possible that the core of this prooemium should be taken at face
value. Ps.-Joshua may indeed have received a request from an abbot

named Sergius, and the fact that he indicates that he has had only a

single audience with him (§1) might be held to support this view.
Nevertheless, the literary device of introducing a treatise as the
response to a request is so common that it is also possible that the
request and requester should be regarded as pure literary constructs. In
particular, ‘the request’ and ‘the unworthiness of the writer’ are linked
topoi which reinforce each other: modesty would have forbidden the
writer to pen his account unless he had received a request or command
from a very important person. This makes it difficult to distinguish a
‘real’ from a ‘literary’ request."^ In ps.-Joshua’s prooemium, the real or
fictitious request of Sergius also enables him to touch on a few other
literary topoi: the greatness and difficulty of his subject;^ the
justification of a plain as against a rhetorical styleand a number of
synkriseis (comparisons) employing biblical figures, as well as an
allusion to the Edessene legend of Jesus’ promise to Abgar concerning
the inviolability of the city. It also enables him, since Sergius
apparently wishes to know the cause of the war (§ 6), to ‘justify’ the
following account of the cause.

^ Cf. also the remarks to Sergius in §§ 18, 24-25, 39-40, 45, 79, 86, 94, 96, 101.

■j

Cf. E. R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (New York,
1953), 83-85; E. Riad, Studies in the Syriac Preface (Uppsala, 1988), 191-202.

^ Cf. G. Simon, ‘Untersuchungen zur Topik der Widmungsbriefe mittelalterlicher
Geschichtsschreiber ...’, Archiv fur Diplomatik 4 (1958), 59-60, who maintains (n. 27)
that general conclusions concerning the historicity of the request are unjustified (against
Curtius) and each case must be individually decided. Cf. also Riad, Preface, 191. In the
present case, the difficulty lies in the fact that there are no other data to enable us to
establish the reality or otherwise of Sergius, let alone his request. The name was a
common one. There is a Sergius mentioned among the abbots to whom Jacob of Serug’s
Letter 2\ is addressed (ed. Olinder, 135), who could conceivably be the addressee of ps.-
Joshua, but this is a mere speculative possibility. Other persons bearing this name about
whom one might similarly speculate include the Sergius of Pesilta mentioned in Pseudo-
Zachariah, H.E. 8.5, and an archimandrite of the monastery of St. Alexander (cf SEG 40
[1990], no. 1380 ter). Cf also A. Luther, Die syrische Chronik des Josua Stylites
(Berlin, 1997), 20, n. 92.

^ Cf. Riad, Preface, 202-206.

^ Cf Lucian, How to write History 40-44; Thucydides 1.21.1. Cf. R. Dostalova,
‘Friihbyzantinische Profanhistoriker’, Quellen zur Geschichte des friihen Byzanz (Berlin,
1990), 174-175; Simon, ‘Untersuchungen IF, 74-78; Riad, Preface, 93.

^ Cf Curtius, Literature, 84; Riad, Preface, 188-189.

XIV

INTRODUCTION

Pre-history of the War (§§ 7-24)

In the prooemium, the author has repeatedly stressed that the
sufferings of the period were chastisements from God designed to bring
people to repent of their sins. Thus the Persians were God’s ‘rod of
anger’ (Isaiah 10:5), although their free-will is not to be denied (§ 5).
We therefore hear that ‘even though this war was stirred up (by God)
against us on account of our sins, nevertheless the cause arose on
account of political circumstances’ (r <^v\\ (§ 6). Ps.-Joshua

thus accepts both divine and human causation, and now proceeds to a
quite lengthy account of the human cause of the war, the political
factors which, originating in the Roman occupation of Nisibis in 297
A.D., gained strength over the years and eventually led to the outbreak
of hostilities. Our author, despite his Christian perspective, is therefore
also a political historian, and in this section seeks to show, in the form
of a continuous narrative, how the acts of statesmen and the inter¬
relationship of events were the cause of the war. On the Roman side
we hear of the rivalries at the court of Zeno, the revolt of Ulus and
Leontius, and the jealousy of the Isaurians against Anastasius; on the
Persian side of the death of Peroz, the fall of Balash, the accession of
Kawad, the revolt of the nobles, and the restoration of Kawad with the
help of the Huns.

The classical models of political historiography included Herodotus
and Thucydides. Herodotus’ proem (1.1-6) demonstrates ‘for what
cause’ Greeks and Persians made war against each other, first by
reference to the Persian explanation attributing it to the Trojan War,
and then by reference to Croesus’ (and Cyrus’) subjugation of the
Asian Greeks. Chapters 1-23 of Book 1 of Thucydides have been
regarded as a proem comparable to that of Herodotus, leading into an
account of the ‘cause’ (aLTia) and ‘truest cause’ (Trp6(j)aaL9) of the
Peloponnesian War (1.24-145). Ps.-Joshua’s account of the cause of
the war could well have been modelled on Herodotus or Thucydides.
Although he wrote in Syriac, Greek culture had long been influential in
bilingual Edessa.^ He endeavoured to establish the credibility of his

Not only by some modem scholars, but also - more importantly in this context - by
Dionysius of Halicarnassus. Cf W. K. Pritchett, Dionysius of Halicarnassus: On
Thucydides (Berkeley, 1975), 13 and 71.

More details in J. W. Watt, ‘Greek historiography and the “Chronicle of Joshua the
Stylite” \ After Bardaisan (Louvain, 1999), 317-328.

INTRODUCTION

history by declaring that T found some of (the information) in old
books, some of it I learnt about from meeting men who had been on
embassies with the two sovereigns, and other things (I discovered) from
those who had been present at the events’ (§ 25) - in the reference to
eye witnesses, a thoroughly Thucydidean touch.

Chronicle ofEdessa (§§ 25-46a)

When we move to the next section, we have a sudden change in
subject matter, form, and method. What could be called ‘The History
of the Persian War’, for which in §§ 7-24 we have had the prologue,
only resumes at §46b. Instead, we are now carried back eight years to
494 A.D., and the stage is no longer the politics of the two empires, but
life in the city and countryside {chord) of Edessa. No longer do we
have a continuous narrative unfolding according to the historian’s
perception of the inter-relationship of events, but a chronological
account on a year-by-year basis of a great number of occurrences in the
city, many of which, however, are quite unconnected to each other. It
is true that there is a unifying theme running through the whole section,
which we could call ‘apostasy and chastisement’. Nevertheless, the
primary grouping of events is a chronological record of the notable
occurrences of each year, not the organic development of one thing
from another. The local chronicles of antiquity seem to have been of
this character. Since they are not directly preserved, but are known
only from their incorporation into later compilations, their precise
content and form cannot be ascertained with certainty. It is, however,
fairly clear that they consisted mostly of unconnected information on
matters such as the deeds of dignitaries, their births, marriages and
deaths, earthquakes, eclipses and other omens, dedication of public
buildings, anniversaries, and occasions of special religious and
ceremonial importance for the city, all recorded chronologically year-
by-year. Early critics evidently regarded the chronicle as a different

Cf. Thucydides 1.22. For post-Thucydidean historians, cf., e.g., Dionysius of
Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 1.6,5-7.4; Lucian, How to write History 39-44;
Procopius, Wars 1.1.3-5. See in general, Dostalova, ‘Profanhistoriker’, 174-179.

Cf. B. Croke, ‘City chronicles of late antiquity’, Reading the Past in Late Antiquity
(Sydney, 1990), 165-203.

XVI

INTRODUCTION

genre from the history, although in late antiquity and Byzantium the

1 ^

two influenced each other and to a certain extent became intertwined.

The content and form of this section of ps.-Joshua broadly conform
to the genre of the local chronicle, and it is on the basis of this section
that the word ‘Chronicle’ in the conventional title of our work may be
justified. Christian chroniclers of Byzantium did not, however, simply
record the events, but also ‘explained’ them - not through the inter¬
relationship of events in the manner of the classical historian, but as
brought about directly by God.‘^ This is clearly the perspective in
which ps.-Joshua views and explains the events of those years: the
sufferings of the Edessenes were chastisements inflicted by God,
designed to lead sinners to repentance.

The particular transgression of the citizens which offends him is the
celebrations at the theatre and elsewhere in the city during the month of
May (lyar). According to our author, these were held on the 17th May
in 496 A.D. (§ 27), and in 498 A.D. the celebrations started seven days
before the festival day proper (§ 30). In 502 A.D. Anastasius abolished
the mime shows, an event independently confirmed by Procopius of
Gaza,*^ and within thirty days of the discontinued festival the famine
eased (§ 46a). This festival might have been a local springtime custom.
It is more likely, however, that it was the Edessene form of the festival
known at Antioch and elsewhere as the Maiuma and at Constantinople
as the Brytae, for the Maiuma was held in May and had a reputation for
licentiousness and theatrical shows, while the Brytae involved dancing

The most important early passages are Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman
Antiquities 1.8.3-4 and On Thucydides 5; Cicero, On the Orator 2.51-54 and On Laws
1.5-8; and Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 5.18. See in general F. Jacoby, Atthis. The Local
Chronicles of Ancient Athens (Oxford, 1949), 86-87.

Cf. H.-G. Beck, ‘Zur byzantinischen “Mdnchschronik” ’, Speculum Historiale
(Freiburg/Munich, 1965), 188-195; H. Hunger, Die hochsprachliche profane Literatur
der Byzantiner, I (Munich, 1978), 252-254; Averil Cameron, Procopius and the Sixth
Century (London, 1985), 24-32; 1. Rochow, ‘Chronographie’, Quellen zur Geschichte
des friihen Byzanz, 192-193; Dostalova, ‘Profanhistoriker’, 170-174.

Ps.-Joshua may have made use of the archives at Edessa, reference to the existence
of which is made by Eusebius, H,E. 1.13.5 and the Chronicle of Edessa, CSCO 1, p. 3 /
2, p. 4. His remarks in § 25 that he found ‘some of the information (sc. about the
antecedents of the war) in old books’ shows that he knew how to consult written
sources. Cf. further below, xxx-xxxiv.

Cf. C. Mango, Byzantium. The Empire of New Rome (London, 1980), 189-191.

Panegyric 16 (ed./tr. Chauvot, p. 18/42).

INTRODUCTION

xvii

and was abolished by Anastasius after its celebration in 501. The
mime shows at the theatre were the object of attack by many writers on
moral grounds, and by Christians also on account of their pagan
associations. Jacob of Serug, a contemporary of ps.-Joshua and
onetime student at Edessa, wrote a number of homilies On the
Spectacles of the Theatre (but without linking them to a particular
festival) whose very wording is at some points close to our author.
By characterising this festival as a time ‘at which the pagan myths were
chanted’ (§ 30) and an ‘evil festival of the Greek myths’ (§ 46a), ps.-
Joshua associated it with paganism and pantomime, and thus made it
the occasion for the divine chastisement which ended with the abolition
of the mime. It is possible, however, that the chance coincidence of
Anastasius’ decree and the easing of the famine was not the only
reason for his interest in the pantomime. On the pagan side, Zosimus
traced the decline of Rome back to the introduction of mime there in
the time of Augustus, and criticised Theodosius for his fondness of
luxury and pantomime. He also perceived the neglect of the (pagan)
Secular Games in the time of Constantine as the beginning of the
empire’s misfortune. Zosimus and ps.-Joshua both probably wrote
their works in the early years of the sixth century. Ps.-Joshua may not
have been directly responding to Zosimus, but such ideas were

probably ‘in the air’ at that time.

It is not quite certain that the Maiuma and the Brytae were ‘the same’ festival, but
it is very probable. On the whole question, cf. G. B. Greatrex and J. W. Watt, ‘One, two
or three feasts? The Brytae, the Maiuma and the May Festival at Edessa’, Oriens
Christianus 83 {1999), passim.

C. Moss (ed./tr.), ‘Jacob of Serugh’s homilies on the spectacles of the theatre’, Mus
48 (1935), 87-112.

Cf Jacob’s criticism of people ‘crying out to praise (the dancer)’ {Spectacles,
95/103) with ps.-Joshua’s complaint that they were ‘walking all round the city and
praising the dancer’ (§ 30).

A. N. Palmer, ‘Who wrote the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite?’, Lingua Restituta
Orientalis (Wiesbaden, 1990), 278 suggests that the coincidence was not fortuitous, but
was synchronised by the church authorities in Edessa.

Zosimus 1.6.1.

Ibid. 4.33.4

Ibid. 2.7.1-2.

On the date of Zosimus, cf Alan Cameron, ‘The date of Zosimus’ New History’,
Philologus 113 (1969), 106-110. On the date of ps.-Joshua, cf below, xxviii-xxix.

It is perhaps not too fanciful to consider whether ps.-Joshua was not only critical of
Constantine and Theodosius, as was Zosimus, but also saw them as in some respects

XVlll

INTRODUCTION

History of the War (§§ 46b-100)

The account of the war itself appears at first sight to continue in the
chronicle form, inasmuch as it is punctuated by the five year-headings
of 814-818 A.G. (502-506 A.D.).^^ Closer examination, however,
shows the impression to be quite superficial. Despite the chronological
frame, we are presented here with what is predominantly a continuous
narrative history, not a compilation of discrete, annalistic records. The
form of the account is governed by the author’s perception of the flow
of events, and is only very occasionally interrupted by ‘annalistic’
observations.^^ Warfare, of course, was the subject matter of classical
historiography, and the subject matter of this section is the course of the
war, not life in Edessa during the war. Kawad’s failure to capture the
city was, to be sure, a critical event in the war, and the author is greatly
interested in it and experienced it directly (§§ 52, 59-63), but it is the
war itself which is his real subject matter. The narrative begins with the
omens of August 502 and the simultaneous advance of the Persians on
Theodosiopolis, and ends with the triumphal entry and departure of
Celer from Edessa after the conclusion of the peace treaty.

It would clearly be an exaggeration to designate this section and its
prologue in §§ 7-24 ‘A History of the Persian War’ if one were to insist
that all the features of classical historiography required to be present in
a ‘history’. Our text is anonymous, and it has no lengthy speeches, to
take two salient points. Nevertheless, this is more like a ‘history’ than a
‘chronicle’, and some of its ‘unclassical’ features have analogies in
other late antique histories, such as that of Procopius. Our author, an
Edessene, attributes the failure of Kawad to take the city to the
legendary promise of Jesus to Abgar (§§ 5, 58, 60), but even Procopius,

‘anti-types’ of Anastasius. Zosimus criticised Theodosius for enjoying the pantomime
(above, n. 22), while Anastasius abolished it; Zosimus criticised Constantine for
introducing the chrysargyron (2.38), Anastasius abolished it (cf ps.-Joshua, § 31).

§§ 49, 64, 76, 90, 97.

Such observations of local events not directly related to the fighting or the presence
of soldiers are found in §§ 83 (Amid), 87 (Edessa), 89 (Serug and Edessa), 91-92 (Birta,

Europus, Edessa).

Cf below, xxiv-xxvi. The anonymity might be a natural consequence of the
author’s assumption of a local audience, who would know his identity, as Mary Whitby
has suggested to us.

Cf Cameron, Procopius, 29-32.

Cf below, xxvi.

INTRODUCTION

XIX

although more sceptical, to be sure, introduces this theme in the history
of a later Persian assault against the city.^^ Even such a ‘popular’ story
as that of the miraculous egg (§§ 67-68) would not necessarily be out of
place in a late antique history.^^

At the beginning of the section, however, there are two brief
paragraphs (§§ 46b and 49; cf. also § 47) which have a more markedly
Christian tone, and link this section more closely with the preceding
‘Chronicle of apostasy and chastisement’. These hint at a religious
‘explanation’ of the war and at eschatological speculation in the
author’s environment. His religious ‘explanation’ of the suffering of
494-502 is quite clear - the May festival and the associated activities -
but the same cannot be said of his religious ‘explanation’ of the distress
of the war. He declines to be specific about the sins which he claims to
have been responsible for it, ‘because even the rulers were

involved in them ... However, in order not to leave the matter
completely hidden ... I shall (simply) put down a word of a prophet
from which you will understand (what I mean) ... “Alas for him who
says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’, or to his mother, ‘What
are you bearing?’ ” (Is. 45 : 10) ... However, if our Lord allows us to
see you in health, we will say (more) to you about these things as far as
we are able’ (§ 46b). The matter may not have remained completely
hidden from (the real or fictitious) Sergius, but unfortunately it remains
rather obscure to us. Palmer has correctly observed that ‘here the Bible
is being used as a means of coded communication’, but we are not
convinced by his decoding of it in terms of christological sectarianism,
for there is no hint anywhere else in the text that our author was at all
troubled by such matters. We consider it more likely that he was
alluding to another facet of paganism, at least as he perceived it. The
passage he cited from Isaiah is drawn from a section preaching

Procopius, fVars 2.12.7-34.

Ps.-Joshua’s treatment of this story can be compared with Lucian’s advice to
historians as to how to deal with a mythos; cf How to write History 60. On the
difficulty of placing many authors on the ‘history-chronicle’ divide, cf Hunger,
Literatur, 253-254. The likely annalistic structure of Malchus’ history (cf R. C.
Blockley, The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire, I
[Liverpool, 1981], 72-73), written in the reign of Anastasius, is especially noteworthy in
this context.

Palmer, ‘Joshua’, 279-280. Palmer’s translation of r<3’L=i.‘t») as ‘abbots’ (ibid., 277
and n. 3) is unconvincing for the same reason.

INTRODUCTION

(Yahwistic) monotheism and the impotence of Bel and Nebo (Is. 44 :
21 - 46 : 11). Immediately after the passage cited by ps.-Joshua, the
‘Holy One of Israel’ declares, ‘Ask of me signs concerning

my children’ (Is. 45 : 11), and our author proceeds from his mysterious
comment to tell of a sign (r^^r<r) that appeared in the night sky (§ 47).

We therefore consider that ps.-Joshua’s comments are probably a coded
polemic against (pagan) astrology and the veneration of Bel, the pagan
mler of the heavens and Fortunae rector. There is no doubt that
astrological speculation persisted for long in this area, particularly
among the upper classes (the r<j*i=i.T=?3). The Doctrina Addai asserted

that the pre-Christian Edessenes worshipped Bel and Nebo, and that ‘all
the prophecy of the prophets ... is this, that creatures should not be
worshipped with the creator, and that men should not bind themselves
to the yoke of corrupt paganism.’ Ps.-Joshua may have been
following this polemic tradition: as the plague and famine were
attributed to paganism and pantomime, so the sufferings of the war
could be ascribed to paganism and astrology. Of course, this is only
one possible interpretation of his cryptic reference to Is. 45 : 10; other
interpretations could be that it is a general attack on impiety, or on (pro-
Persian) agitation against the emperor and empress.

Epilogue (§ 101)

The reign of Anastasius, and in particular the years around 500 A.D.,
were a time of much apocalyptic speculation, falling as they did six
thousand years after the supposed date of the creation. This could
have been heightened in Edessa by the sufferings of those years, but
ps.-Joshua observed from the fact that ‘this war had not broken out over

See the sectionalisation of the book in the Peshitta manuscripts noted by S. Brock
(ed.), The Old Testament in Syriac, III, 1: Isaiah (Leiden, 1987), xxxviii, section 22.

Cf. H. J. W. Drijvers, ‘The persistence of pagan cults and practices in Christian
Syria’, East of Byzantium (Washington D.C., 1982), 40, n. 40.

Cf. ibid., 38-41; Hunger, Literatur, 250-251.

Doctrina Addai, .T=k - 0X51/23-25 (tr. Phillips = 49-51 Howard). Cf. the polemic
against astrology, ibid., oi\/34 (= 71 Howard).

Cf. above, xvi-xvii. In this connection the issue is not how strong paganism really
was in Edessa at the time, but our author’s perception of it (or his polemical stance in
relation to it). On the wider question of residual paganism in Edessa, cf. below, xxxix.

Cf. J. Alexander (ed./tr.). The Oracle of Baalbek. The Tiburtine Sibyl in Greek
Dress (Washington D.C., 1967), esp. 118-120.

INTRODUCTION

XXI

the whole world’ that ‘these things did not happen to us because it was
the final age’ (§ 49). This brief reference to the fact that ‘many indeed
thought along these lines’ shows that such ideas were being considered
in Edessa at the time, but evidently ps.-Joshua was not in sympathy
with them. In the epilogue he turned, as he had done in the prooemium,
to a literary motif of pre-Christian origin which had to some extent
been Christianised, this time under the impact of Christian eschatology.
The theme of the return of the Golden Age had long been associated
with relief from misery and struggle and the benevolent rule of a wise
emperor, although from the fourth century it had been integrated by
some Christian authors into an eschatological schema."^^ Ps.-Joshua
may have turned to this theme on account of this association, but if so,
he set aside the eschatological fervour of some of his contemporaries
and ended his work with the non-eschatological, albeit Christianised,
form of the myth,"^^ expressing the hope that a great change would
happen in the world surpassing his ability ‘to tell of the good conduct
of our citizens, of the peace and prosperity that shall reign in the world,
of the great abundance that shall come to pass, and of the overflowing
increase of the harvest of the blessing of God, who said, “The former
troubles will be forgotten and be hidden from my sight”.’

TRANSMISSION, AUTHORSHIP, AND DATE

The ‘Chronicle of ps.-Joshua’ is not preserved as an independent
treatise in any Syriac manuscript, but only as a section of a larger work
known as the ‘Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius’ or the ‘Chronicle of

A ^

Zuqnin’. This larger work is itself preserved in a single manuscript,
which is unfortunately mutilated at both beginning and end. If its

Cf. O. Nicholson, ‘Golden Age and the end of the world’, The Medieval
Mediterranean (St. Cloud, Minnesota, 1988), 11-18.

A point not mentioned by Nicholson, ibid.

On this larger work, see especially W. Witakowski, The Syriac Chronicle of
Pseudo-Dionysius ofTel-Mahre (Uppsala, 1987); idem, Pseudo-Dionysius ofTel-Mahre,
Chronicle Part III (Liverpool, 1996); A. Harrak, The Chronicle of Zuqnin Parts III and
IV (Toronto, 1999). Only a brief description of the larger work need be offered here.

XXll

INTRODUCTION

author was named in the title or subscription, that can no longer be
ascertained. Nevertheless, since it ends in 775 A.D., which the author
designates ‘the year in which we are’, it was evidently composed at this
time. From another remark of the author, it appears that he was a monk
of Zuqnin (near Amid). This larger chronicle incorporates several
earlier sources, the ‘Chronicle of ps.-Joshua’ being situated between the
second and third of its four principal sections. Since the third of these
sections is largely based on the (otherwise lost) second part of the
Ecclesiastical History of John of Ephesus, it has been supposed by
some that ‘ps.-Joshua’ was first attached to the work of John of
Ephesus, from where it was then taken over into ‘ps.-Dionysius’.
Others, however, have presented strong arguments for believing that
‘ps.-Joshua’ passed directly into ‘ps.-Dionysius’."^^

The single manuscript of the Zuqnin Chronicle, Vaticanus syriacus
162 (and British Library Add. 14665, foil. 2-7), presently consists of
173 (plus 6) folios, the text of ps.-Joshua being on folios 65 recto to 86
verso (of the Vaticanus). With the exception of folio 66 (to be
described below), all the leaves containing ps.-Joshua are a palimpsest,
as is the greater part of the whole manuscript. The text of ps.-Joshua is
nevertheless legible for the most part, although from time to time its
reading is difficult and conjectures are necessary. The manuscript has
usually been dated to the ninth century, but this appears to be rather too
late if it was ‘repaired’ with a freshly written folio 66 around 902 (see
below), and both Luther and Harrak consider it likely that this
manuscript is in fact the autograph of the author-compiler of the Zuqnin
Chronicle. Information on the scribe and date of the codex may have
been given on the original final folio, but if so, that information is now
lost.'^"^

The Syriac text of ps.-Joshua was first edited by Martin in 1876,
although an abridged Latin translation was included by Joseph
Assemani in his Bibliotheca Orientalis (vol. I, 262-283). Subsequently
it was re-edited by Wright in 1882, utilising a fresh collation of the
work by Guidi. A further edition was produced by Chabot in 1927, as
part of his edition of the ‘Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius’. Our

Cf. Witakowski, Syriac Chronicle, 34-36.

On the manuscript,. cf. Chabot, Chronicon II, iv-viii; Witakowski, Syriac
Chronicle, 30-31; idem. Chronicle Part III, xvii-xviii; Luther, Die syrische Chronik des
Josua Stylites (Berlin, 1997), 11-14; Harrak, Chronicle of Zuqnin, 1-4, 9-17.

INTRODUCTION

XXlll

translation is based on the text of Chabot (which differs hardly at all
from that of Wright). The section numbers are those of Wright, by
which references to this text are commonly made. A further edition
was published at Mardin in 1959 by Dolabani, who was familiar with
the editions of Martin, Wright, and Chabot. In addition to the French,
English, and Latin translations of Martin, Wright, and Chabot, there are
also versions in Russian (by Pigulevskaya), Danish (by Krarup),
Turkish (by Dolabani?), and German (by Luther).

Despite its generally high quality, the manuscript contains a
considerable number of common types of variation from the normal
orthography, as well as some common types of error. It has also been
frequently retouched by a later hand. The errors and irregularities are
found throughout the whole codex, and have been assembled by
Chabot."^^ The principal variations from the standard orthography are
as follows: the omission or addition of final or medial waw oxyodh\ the
omission or insertion of medial alaph or its mutation inXo yodh\ and the
omission of tau in ettaphal or when assimilated to dalath or teth, the
omission of dalath when assimilated to tau, and the mutation of dalath
into tau!^^ The principal errors are the omission of yodh before
suffixes, the confusion of waw and yodh in suffixes or terminations, the
transposition of adjacent letters, and the deformation of Greek names.
These deviations or errors rarely complicate the translation and are not
normally noted in our version. Only where we assume a more radical
correction to the text do we call attention to it by angle brackets. In
these cases the corrected text appears in Chabof s apparatus or we
elucidate in a footnote.

Folio 66 of the manuscript (covering the text translated below at §§
4-6, notes 15-29) is in a later hand and was written by a certain Elisha
of Zuqnin. It is very likely that this person is the same Elisha of Zuqnin
as the scribe of the manuscript British Library Or. 5021, which was
written in 902/3 A.D. This later scribe has not reproduced the full

Chabot, Chronicon II, viii-xi.

On these common departures from the standard orthography, cf Noldeke,
Grammar, §§ 4 (on vowels), 50 and 167 (on final waw and yodh), 38 (on -hu > -u), 33
and 35 (on alaph), 26 (on dentals).

The more significant of these errors or deviations, such as the inversion of adjacent
letters, are corrected in the text of Chabot and Wright and noted in their apparatus.

Cf. Harrak, Chronicle of Zuqnin, 9-10. The colophon on folio 16v of this
manuscript reads: peuro jaS^hirc ... r^^-Loot _xx*Ar^^.i (‘This codex was

XXIV

INTRODUCTION

text of the original folio which he has replaced, the text of which must
have been longer than that which is now extant. The substituted text,
however, does link up with the end of folio 65 and the start of folio 67
(in the case of the latter, with a small overlap).At the end of this
substituted folio, the scribe added a note which we now have to
consider in some detail, since it is solely on account of this note that our
text has been attributed to ‘Joshua the Stylite’.

The author of our treatise is nowhere mentioned either in the title or the
body of the text. The note on folio 66 verso^^ reads as follows (our
italics):

Pray for the wretched Elisha from the monastery of Zuqnin, who
wrote this leaf (ntim that he may find mercy like the

thief on the right. Amen and Amen. May the mercy of the great God
and our Saviour Jesus Christ be upon the priest Mar Joshua the
Stylite from the convent of Zuqnin, who wrote this codex (^^.t

t<icn of this memorial (r«ijcD r<j.Troa^.T) of the bad times^^

which have passed and of the calamities and troubles which that
tyrant inflicted among men.

On the basis of this translation, it will be evident that we consider
Joshua the Stylite to have been the scribe of the manuscript. The
parallelism between the italicised phrases of the two sentences of this
note constitutes in our view a decisive argument in favour of this
interpretation. If in the first sentence r<jm resale means (as it

undoubtedly does) ‘who wrote (i.e., was the scribe of) this leaf, then in

written ... Elisha of Zuqnin wrote it’). Cf. S. Brock, ‘Notulae Syriacae’, Mus 108
(1995), 75-76.

Cf. Chabot, Chronicon //, viii; Luther, Chronik, 14. There is no reason to suppose
that the omitted passage concerned the May festival (thus Luther, Chronik, 15). The
phrase in §27 translated by Luther ‘an diesem Tag ... iiber den berichtet wurde’ (i.e. in
the missing passage from the prooemium) almost certainly means ‘on this day which
was specified (i.e. a few lines above, namely, 17 May, 807A.G.), which was a Friday
night’.

Text in Chabot, 241, n. 6; Wright, ix; Harrak, Chronicle of Zuqnin, 4; photographic
reproduction in Luther, Chronik, 233.

Or, taking r^.icDcvji..T r<ij«n as a unit and the following rOcn as a recapitulation
(thus Harrak, Chronicle of Zuqnin, 5): ^who wrote this chronicle of the bad times’.

INTRODUCTION

XXV

the second, [rdj.Tcna^.t] r^cn ja^.i Can hardly mean anything

other than ‘who wrote (i.e., was the scribe of) this codex [this
chronicle]’. We consider Palmer to be quite correct in supposing that
must be rendered as ‘wrote out’, although mistaken in believing

that the remainder of the sentence should be translated ‘this book (=
‘Pseudo-Dionysius’) containing this record/memorial (= ‘Pseudo-
Joshua’)’. If Elisha had intended to designate his own work as
scribal, but Joshua’s as authorial, it is most unlikely that he would have
used the same verb (a^) for both in such close parallelism; he would

either have used the aphel, as Palmer suggests would have been

^ 53

necessary in any case, or he would have employed another verb.
While Elisha, however, was drawing a parallel between himself and
Joshua as scribes, that does not exclude the possibility that Joshua was
also the author of the larger chronicle, will

mean in this passage either this ‘codex of this memorial’ (as

means ‘codex’, for example, in the colophon of the Elisha of Zuqnin of
MS. British Library Or. 5021, cited above, n. 48), or ‘this chronicle,
that is, (of the bad times ...)’. The ‘bad times which have passed and
the calamities and troubles which that tyrant inflicted among men’ may
refer to Kawad and our treatise,or to Musa b. Mus‘ab, the governor
of Mosul, and the sufferings inflicted by him in the time of the author
of the chronicle of Zuqnin.^^ Either way, we are required to assume
that Elisha was using synecdoche (part for the whole), but this is not at
all unlikely and much more probable than the supposition that he was
here designating Joshua the author of our smaller treatise. In our view,
therefore, Joshua was not the author of our treatise (as first proposed by
Assemani),^^ but the scribe of the codex, and probably also the author

Cf. Palmer, ‘Joshua’, 273-274.

Cf. the colophon of British Library Add. 17126: ‘There is in this codex
t<im) the commentary of five chapters of the Evangelist Luke. Here ends the Fourth
Book of the Commentary on the Evangelists Matthew and Luke

composed ( t.-^v t) by Philoxenus, bishop of Mabbug. It was copied (a^dircr) in the city

of Mabbug ...’. (Cited from J. W. Watt, Philoxenus of Mabbug. Fragments of the
Commentary on Matthew and Luke, CSCO 392 [Louvain, 1978], 93, n. 4.)

Thus Witakowski, Chronicle Part III, xxii -xxiii, arguing that the phrase can hardly
apply to the universal chronicle of ps.-Dionysius.

Thus Harrak, Chronicle of Zuqnin, 7-8.

This remains the view of Luther, Chronik, 12-16.

XXVI

INTRODUCTION

of the Chronicle of Zuqnin (as first proposed by Nau).^^ Both he and
Elisha were from the monastery of Zuqnin.

The name of the author of our treatise is therefore unknown. From the
internal evidence of the work itself, however, there is little doubt that
he considered himself a citizen of Edessa, and lived in the city during at
least some of the time for which he writes about it. Thus he calls
Edessa ‘our city’ on six occasions (§§ 5, 32, 36, 46 (x2), 95),
designates Peter of Edessa ‘our bishop’ (§§ 36, 39, 95), refers to Birta
and Amid as ‘near us’ (§91) and ‘with us in Mesopotamia’ (§ 50), and
Mesopotamia as ‘where we live’ (§ 49). The account of the famine and
plague preceding the war is devoted almost entirely to Edessa, and on
frequent occasions he intimates that he himself experienced in Edessa

events about which he writes. He expressly distinguishes ‘things
whose time has passed’ (§6) from those ‘which happened in our own
time’ (§9) and ‘which happened to us ... and occurred in our time’
(§25). The former are the origins of the war going back to the Roman
capture of Nisibis in 297 A.D.; the latter occurred during the reigns of
Peroz and Kawad in Persia and Zeno and Anastasius on the Roman side
(§§ 9-24), and in particular (§ 25) during 494-506 A.D.

Some have sought to go further and endeavoured to establish his
position and role at Edessa. It has been variously proposed that he was
a teacher, a monk, a secular clergyman, and a steward.The
hypothesis that he was a teacher is based solely on a phrase in § 34,^^
and the phrase cannot bear the weight of the interpretation. At no point
in the text does the author identify himself as a monk or clergyman, and
we can see no adequate grounds for believing him to be either. The
reason for supposing him to be a steward is his knowledge of and
interest in food prices and similar economic affairs.^' Palmer even
hazards the suggestion that he is to be identified with Stratonikos, the

steward of the cathedral church of Edessa. His interest in these

That Joshua was both the author of the Chronicle of Zuqnin and the scribe of the
Vatican codex is the view of Harrak, Chronicle of Zuqnin, 4-8, 12-17.

Cf. §§ 3,25,34, 45,47,49, 60.

Cf. the review in Palmer, ‘Joshua’, 275-277.

‘Some brothers from our schools’.

Cf F. Haase, ‘Die Chronik des Josua Stylites’, Oriens Christianus N.S. 9 (1920),
69.

Palmer, ‘Joshua’, 276-279.

INTRODUCTION

XXVll

economic affairs is certainly striking, but one could as easily argue that
his interest in military matters shows him to have been a soldier, or his
concern with judicial and administrative affairs a government official.
All these hypotheses are mere speculation. The important fact is that he
was a historiographer. This of course is not meant as a description of
‘how he earned his living’, but an indication that he performed his
historical task ‘professionally’ by utilising the sources of information
that were available to him. This makes it impossible to determine what
was his ‘real life job’. We should recall that he claims, at the end of his
account of the antecedents of the war, to have ‘found some of (the
information) in old books, some of it ... from meeting men who had
been on embassies with the two sovereigns, and other things from
those who had been present at the events’ (§ 25), and draw the obvious
conclusion that he could have also utilised comparable sources of
information, as well as his own personal observations, for the rest of the

narrative.

It is possible, however, to delineate the author’s general religious and
political sympathies. He was, quite obviously, a Christian who was
opposed to what he saw as pagan elements in the life of his city,
especially the mime plays at the theatre during the spring festival.^"^ He
was also an obedient subject of the emperor Anastasius, whom he
wishes to absolve from all blame for the war (§ 6).^^ Of the three
celebrated churchmen of his day, he describes Flavian as ‘the holy,
pious, divinely-adorned, valiant and glorious Mar Flavian, patriarch of
Antioch’ (§ 83), Philoxenus (Xenaias) of Mabbug as ‘more than any
others (being) supposed to take on himself the labour of teaching’
(§30), and Jacob of Serug as ‘respected’ (§ 54). From about 506 A.D.
Philoxenus campaigned vigorously against Flavian, and eventually
succeeded in having him deposed in 512 A.D., but in the years before
the outbreak of this bitter christological controversy, there was relative
peace between the parties under the tolerant rule of Anastasius and the
eirenic formula of the Henoticon.^^ Our author makes no mention of
christological disputes or the parties to them, and from his favourable

Even although the assertion is a literary topos (cf. above, xiv-xv), that shows he
understood what was required of a historian, and makes identification of his ‘real life
job’ problematic.

Cf above, xvi-xvii.

On the (inauthentic) reference to Anastasius in § 101, see below.

Cf A. de Halleux, Philoxene de Mabbog (Louvain, 1963), 49-64.

XXVlll

INTRODUCTION

attitude to Anastasius and Flavian, we may assume that he too was
content with the tolerant regime established through the acceptance of
the Henoticon.^^

The last event mentioned in the treatise is the triumphant departure of
the magistros Celer from Edessa in November 506 A.D. (§ 100). Apart
from one sentence concerning the latter part of Anastasius’ reign
(§101), which must be regarded as an interpolation, there is not a
shred of evidence that the author was aware of anything which occurred
after that date (November 506 A.D.). Anastasius, Justin, Peter of
Edessa, Flavian of Antioch, and Philoxenus of Mabbug are all
mentioned in a way which presupposes that at the time of writing they
were respectively reigning emperor (§ 6), count (§ 81), bishop of
Edessa (§ 95), patriarch of Antioch (§ 83), and bishop of Mabbug
(§30). Anastasius died in 518 and was succeeded by Justin, Peter died
in 510, Flavian was deposed in 512, and Philoxenus in 518.
Furthermore, the epilogue makes little sense except on the assumption
that it was composed almost immediately after the final events narrated
in the treatise: T shall therefore take care, since I know your wish, and
write down and send to Your Eminence whatever happens in the future
and is worthy of memorial, if I remain alive. Let us pray - we who are
here. Your Eminence there, and all men everywhere - that the content
of the narrative will be about a great change which will have happened
in the world. Just as we were unable to narrate the (events) of the evil
times (past) as they (truly) were, because of the magnitude of their
troubles, so also may we be unable to narrate those of the future,
because of the magnitude of their blessings’ (§ 101). There can be little
doubt, therefore, that the work was written shortly after the end of the
war in 506 A.D.

Against this conclusion stands the sentence following the triumphal
departure of Celer: ‘Even if this emperor seemed (to act) differently at
the end of his life, let no one make difficulty over his praises, but let
him remember what was done by Solomon in the closing period of his
life’ (§101). On the basis of this passage, Nau dated our treatise to 518
A.D. or later, the death of Anastasius. However, even were no

Cf. H. Gelzer, ‘Josua Stylites und die damaligen kirchlichen Parteien des Ostens’,
BZ\ (1892), 40-46.

Cf. below.

INTRODUCTION

XXIX

historical problems to emerge from this statement, it would still excite
suspicion on rhetorical and literary grounds. The body of the work
ends on a climactic note with the triumphal departure of Celer from
Edessa: ‘Rejoicing in the peace that had been made, happy at the
coming release from the distress in which they were presently living,
exulting in the hope of blessings expected in the future, and praising
God, who in his grace and mercy had brought peace to both empires,
the citizens sent him on his way with songs fitting for him and for (the
emperor) who had sent him’ (§ 100). The epilogue then follows, as the
author turns finally to address Sergius: ‘These few things out of many I
have written for Your Grace to the best of my ability’ (§ 101).
Between these two stands the statement about ‘this emperor’. It is
scarcely credible that the statement could have been part of the original
text,^^ or that such a carefully composed and effective climax could
have been destroyed by the original author. Furthermore, the
sentence is addressed to ‘anyone’, while our author addresses himself to
(the real or fictitious) Sergius (‘Your Grace’). In looking back on
Anastasius’ life, it conflicts with the prooemium which implies that he
is presently in government (§6). It can therefore hardly be doubted
that it is an insertion (from someone other than the original author),
probably alluding to Anastasius’ change of ecclesiastical policy in
favour of the anti-Chalcedonian party in 512 A.D. The comparison
with Solomon (cf 1 Kings 11:4) was presumably suggested to the
interpolator by the juxtaposition of Solomon and Anastasius towards
the end of the prooemium (§6).

CoiTectly seen by Haase, ‘Josua’, 70: ‘sie stort vollstandig den Zusammenhang’.

As suggested by Gelzer, ‘Josua’, 46-47.

Cf. Palmer, ‘Joshua’, 281-282.

XXX

INTRODUCTION

HISTORICAL VALUE
(i) Ps.-Joshua’s Sources

The chronicle of ps.-Joshua the Stylite occupies a unique position in
early sixth-century historiography. To date, most discussions have
concentrated on the identity of the author.It is generally agreed that
ps.-Joshua enjoyed access to important sources of official information,
but the process by which he acquired it, whether through written
documents or personal interviews with participants, is unknown. The
literary form of the chronicle conceals the fact-gathering process by the
omission of all references to sources except the general observations
made in § 25: T found some (of the information) in old books, some of
it I learnt about from meeting men who had been on embassies with the
two sovereigns, and other things (I discovered) from those who had
been present at the events.’ This remark applies mostly to the
antecedents of the Persian War of 502-6. It has been suggested that ps.-
Joshua made use of an official written account of the war. There can
be no doubt about the official origin of this material, but the traces of
documentary data that can be identified by an analysis of the
chronicle’s literary structure do not immediately suggest a single¬
source theory, and such a view also seems to contradict the author’s
clear statement.

The ‘old books’ ps.-Joshua used are a different matter. He is here
referring to the source material that went into §§ 7 to 24, which are a
prehistory or ‘archaeology’ of the contemporary history that occupies
the main part of the chronicle. The works in question are unknown. It is
a vexing problem, inasmuch as ps.-Joshua seems in many instances to
have relied on sources with a content superior to the one that survives
in the other historical compendia, particularly for events in Osrhoene
and Sasanid Persia.

Two later writers, John Malalas and Evagrius of Epiphaneia, mention
their use of the historical epitome of Eustathius of Epiphaneia, which

For a digest of the earlier views, see Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War (Leeds,
1998), 64f and 73.

‘If ... the mass of detailed data was integrated ... into a lucid military and
diplomatic narrative before it reached Joshua, the source probably took the form of an
official report on the whole campaign. Anastasius’ regime had every incentive to
sponsor such a work ...’. James Howard-Johnston, ‘The two great powers in late
antiquity: a comparison’, Cameron, States. Resources, 166, n. 13.

INTRODUCTION

XXXI

went down to the fall of Amid in the twelfth regnal year of Anastasius
(10-13 January 503). It almost certainly lies behind much of what is
found in Theophanes the Confessor’s Chronographia, but the latter
knew other detailed sources for the period after 503, and was often
using an intermediate account that had Eustathius as one of its
sources. There is also some doubt about how and when Eustathius’
history got into circulation. It was certainly available in Antioch in the

520s when the first recension of Malalas was nearing completion. It is
most peculiar that Eustathius did not bring his history down to the end
of the Persian War of 502-6. In consequence of this, Malalas may have
known that Eustathius died c. 504 before his history could be
published, since Evagrius the church historian (who used Malalas) says
he died in the twelfth regnal year of Anastasius (11 April 503 to 10
April 504). In contrast, ps.-Joshua’s chronicle was composed quite
soon after its terminus post quern of 28 November 506, the last date it
mentions (§ 100). It is far from certain that Eustathius’ work was
available in Osrhoene so early (or ever), and there are in fact no
correspondences between the surviving fragments of his history and
what appears in ps.-Joshua.^^ There are clear affinities in subject matter,
but no precise overlaps, between ps.-Joshua, §§ 12-17 and the
fragments of John of Antioch dealing with the insurgency of Ulus c.
481-88.’^

For the present, no conclusive answer can be given to what ‘old
books’ ps.-Joshua had at his disposal. The term could perhaps refer to
archival materials rather than history books. Around this time, imperial
edicts were generally read out publicly in the Syrian cities.Ps.-Joshua
may be aware of this in his report on the cancellation of the
chrysargyron, the much-hated tax on urban tradesmen, in his

P. Allen, Evagrius Scholasticus the Church Historian (Louvain, 1981), 7f.
Theophanes, Chron. AM 5954, 5961-3, 5977, 5984, 5996 (Mango-Scott, 174,181-
3,202,211,224 [notes]).

Allen, Evagrius Scholasticus, 8.

Bury, LRE I xx, 431 f.

For the fragments of Eustathius, see HGM I 353-63; FHG IV 138-42. Cf. below, §
25, n. 111. Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, 61, 74f. P. Allen, ‘An early epitomator
of Josephus: Eustathius of Epiphaneia’, 5Z 81 (1988), 1-11.

”F//G IV 535-622; V 27-38. Cf. B. Baldwin, ‘John of Antioch’, ODB, 1062.
Simeon bar Apollon and Bar Chatar, ‘Lobrede auf den Heim Simeon das Haupt der
Eremiten’, tr. H. Hilgenfeld in Das Leben des heiligen Symeon Stylites, ed. H.
Lietzmann (Leipzig, 1908), 174.

XXXll

INTRODUCTION

observation that ‘the edict of the emperor Anastasius arrived this year,
remitting the gold which tradesmen paid every four years (§ 31).
The text of the law (whose prescript is omitted in the Codex
lustinianus) begins: ‘[Emperor Anastasius] completely remits the
payment of the tax in gold and silver for everyone Ps.-Joshua has
repeated the first clause of the prooemium of the decree in his narrative,
whether from memory or after perusing the document, and has supplied
the phrase about the four-year term of the tax out of context, omitting
the other details of the law. Documents reporting on political events
seem also to have been read out and publicly posted; thereafter, like
newly published laws, they were removed to depositories in the officia
or bureaux of urban, provincial, diocesan and praefectural
governments. Lists of persons convicted of offences against the
Christian religion were at times made known in inscriptions and
perhaps other media as well. It was not difficult for high-ranking
officials and interested citizens to get access to these papers, which
included everything from imperial constitutions and police reports to
public building records and miscellaneous notices about local events
such as earthquakes, comets, fires, and even the appearance of peculiar

personalities who frequented the public squares.

The information that ps.-Joshua gives on the fluctuation of the price
of foodstuffs, public buildings and deaths from the famine in §§ 26-47
could easily have come from such archives. We suppose that
documents of this kind existed from a report found in the final version
of John Malalas’ Chronographia. After mentioning the decree which
added ‘Theoupolis’ to the name of Antioch in Syria I, the author adds
that an oracle warning of such an eventuality ‘was found in the papers
of those who record the transactions of the city’ (ev tol9 xo^Ptlol^
eupeGri twv rd oktu ypa4)6yT(jL)y auTfj^ TroXews*). Ps.-Joshua’s
chronicle is a more polished literary production than the sort of

Zuyxwpet 'ndoiv ei? xeXeLOi^ tt]!/ awTeXeiav rfi^ tou xpwapyupou ... roy
rerapToy kqt’ eyiauroy eixe uirep TerpaeTLav. Cod. lust. 11.1 (Krueger 11 423). But
ps.-Joshua’s language was admittedly easy to come by.

F. R. Trombley, ‘Religious transition in sixth-century Syria’, Byzantinische
Forschungen 20 (1994), 180-182 = SEG 44 (1994), no. 1761.

Q-l

1 owe this suggestion to Peter Brown. It was the object of a brief position paper
submitted to his seminar at University of California, Berkeley in May, 1979 (F. R.
Trombley).

John Malalas, Chronographia, ed. L. Dindorf (Bonn, 1831), 443C.

INTRODUCTION

XXXlll

document-based local history that fills the sixth-century sections of
Malalas’ text. Like ps.-Joshua, Malalas includes reports about imperial
edicts, tax remissions, the numbers of dead in earthquakes and the
duration of comets; he also summarises petitions on behalf of the
provincials, gives a detailed report about the amounts of money
involved in a celebrated inheritance case, and much else.^^ There is one
particularly apposite example. Christian captives held by al-Mundhir
III, king of the pro-Sasanid Lakhmid Arabs, sent a petition to Ephrem,
patriarch of Antioch (April/May 527-545), asking that monies be sent
to ransom them. ‘[The petition] was read out in Antioch (r\ SeriQL? ...
dveyvwGri) and everyone, each as he was able, gave to the so-called
offertory boxes in each church’ (cl? xd Xeyopeva 'yaCo(|)uXdKLa ev
€KdaTT] €KKXr|aLq).^^ Malalas’ continuator possibly read an account of
this in an archive containing various acta (dKxa = TreTTpaypcva) of the
patriarchate. The Chronicle of Edessa contains many brief notices
about the foundation of churches; these reports could have come from
an episcopal archive in Edessa, or even have been read off inscriptions
commemorating the construction and dedication of particular buildings.

The kind of official ‘news sheet’ described here also dealt with
diplomatic missions to the Sasanid kings and military operations.
Edessa was a point of concentration and supply centre for large Roman
armies twice during the Persian War of 502-6, and Osrhoene lay in or
near the zone of operations most of the time. It is easy to suppose that
much paper was certainly expended and then deposited in urban, ducal,
provincial and episcopal archives. The protectores working under the
magister militum per Orientem also had extensive archives to manage;

these seem to have been dispersed in many places, including at ducal

headquarters like Edessa. This might explain where, for example, the

Ibid., 436C (earthquake at Pompeiopolis in Mysia), 439f., 442C-443B (earthquakes
at Antioch and Laodicea), 454A, 460A.

Ibid., 460B.

Cf. Allen, Evagrius Scholasticus, 17. But it is also possible that he was present
when the petition was read out and is here recording the most minute details.

Cf. the various post returns found in the Nessana papyri: a levy of 30 camels and
34 dromedaries (6th c.); a list of military payments (6th c.); and an account of military
camels and the personnel who used them (560-580 A.D.) Excavations at Nessana III:
Non-Literary Papyri, ed. C. Kraemer (Princeton, 1958), nos. 35-37. Cf Ammianus
Marcellinus’ story about the treason of Antoninus the protector in 359: ‘He covertly
pried into all parts of the empire, and being versed in the languages of both tongues
[Latin and Greek], busied himself with calculations, making record of what troops were

XXXIV

INTRODUCTION

figures for soldier’s bread production come from, although the task
itself was organised by the staff of the praetorian prefect. It is quite
likely that periodic reports about military operations and embassies of
the kind that turn up in Malalas’ chronicle were released for public
scrutiny. The difficulty with this is that ps.-Joshua leaves ‘news sheet’
out of the categories of evidence he consulted, unless it can be
supposed that much-handled papyrus documents come under the
category of ‘old books’. As to the eyewitnesses he claims to have
consulted, it cannot be excluded that ps.-Joshua spoke to various army
officers and diplomats, and perused any documents that were available
afterward.

Ps.-Joshua was capable of making an occasionally surprising
omission. His positive view of Celer’s overall direction of the war of
502-6 is undoubtedly reflected in his treatment of the latter’s adventus
at Edessa after the conclusion of the peace treaty in November 506. Yet
ps.-Joshua omits the details of an important episode that reflects Celer’s
skills in operational leadership, the long approach march and raid he
conducted in 504 against a number of fortified settlements in Sasanid
Arbayistan. One finds this report, a historical hapax, in the chronicle of
Marcellinus Comes, a political client of Celer who shows great
enthusiasm for the achievements of his patron. Ps.-Joshua’s omission
can be explained by the failure of an oral informant to mention the raid
in detail or, equally, by a missing piece of ‘news sheet’.

(ii) Relation to Other Sources

It remains to put the chronicle of ps.-Joshua into the wider reference
frame of sixth-century works that deal with the reign of Anastasius I
(11 April 591-10 July 518), an emperor who had no historian. The
chronicle of ps.-Joshua is the earliest surviving example of Syriac
historiography. Classical scholars have a certain prejudice that Latin
and Greek authors invariably wrote and researched their histories with a
superior expertise compared to that of oriental writers. Text-oriented
critics at times tend to see them as auxiliary sources of information

serving anywhere and of what strength, or at what times expeditions would be made,
inquiring also by tireless questioning whether supplies of arms, provisions, and other
things that would be useful in war were at hand in abundance.’ Res Gestae 18.5.1-2 (tr.
J. C. Rolfe). Although the process of inquiry was verbal, some of the information must
have come to him in written form.

Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle, tr. B. Croke (Sydney, 1995), 33f., 112.

INTRODUCTION

XXXV

along with inscriptions, coins and archaeological data. A point by point
analysis of ps.-Joshua’s text suggests a rather different conclusion. It
can be summarised in four categories:

1) The chronicle is a unique source of otherwise unknown information for Sasanid
and Lakhmid Arab affairs between c. 474-499.

2) It gives a detailed administrative history of Edessa, its territorium, and Oshroene
between c. 494-506 from unique data that have no parallel, except for great urban
conglomerates like Constantinople, Antioch, Rome and to some extent Alexandria.

3) It contains a generally complete list of price fluctuations during the locust plague
and famine of 500-2, giving the most detailed account of such an event found in any
ancient source.

4) It contains what is by any standard the most detailed account of the Persian War of
502-6 as regards the description of events and their interpretation; moreover, except for
important reports about incidents that took place outside Osrhoene, like the collapse of
the defence of Amid on 10-13 January 503, ps.-Joshua’s chronology of military
operations has absolute priority over the less detailed, clumsily organised and
excessively anecdotal accounts found in ps.-Zachariah of Mytilene’s Ecclesiatical
History and Procopius’ Wars.

The task of demonstrating these propositions is a complex one, and is
beyond the scope of an annotated translation; the basic materials for
further work on this can be found in the notes attached to the
translation.

In comparing ps.-Joshua to other historians, one must first invoke the
name of Procopius. It is generally agreed that his account of the Persian

Qf)

War of 502-6 is of a poor standard:

It is its accuracy which is questionable. Take, for example, his account of Kavad’s war
... Careful comparison of the three chapters which he devotes to it {BP I. 7-9) with the
rich, document-based material in Joshua the Stylite and Theophanes (supplemented by
the local information on the siege of Amid given by the chronicle of ps. Zachariah of
Mytilene) reveals serious defects in Procopius’ version. He allows extended anecdotes to
elbow out much of the serious reporting which might be expected from him. Two
connected errors of arrangement disrupt the chronology and make nonsense of the
Roman strategy of the war. And the whole account is slanted so as to discredit all the
generals involved, victory being attributed not to their skill but to an extraneous
(perhaps invented) Hunnic invasion in the North. Procopius emerges from this first test
as a slovenly historian, with a dangerous fascination for the sort of anecdotal material
which attracted his Sasanian contemporaries. This casts doubt on the worth of all
sections of his history which are not based on direct or indirect personal experience.

Howard-Johnston, ‘The great powers’, 175f and nn. 40-42.

XXXVl

INTRODUCTION

Procopius’ fVars deliberately denigrates the operations of Anastasius’
generals in 503-6, probably in order to make the dismal operational and
financial realities that lay behind the ‘successes’ of Justinianic warfare
palatable to his audience, which was quite blase about the official line
of that regime as manifested in imperial edicts, ‘news sheets’, mosaics,
honorific inscriptions and the other vehicles of its propaganda.^^ To that
extent, Procopius’ handling of the Persian War of 502-6 is more a
period piece than serious history. It is unlikely that this would have
been lost on his audience, in view of the wide dissemination of official
‘news sheets’ in most provincial capitals. In contrast to such damning
criticism, it should be noted that important details of the War of 502-6
turn up elsewhere in Procopius, as for example the sober report on the
submission of the satrap of Martyropolis to Kawad in September 502

during the latter’s approach march to Amid.

The ecclesiastical history known as that of Zachariah of Mytilene
originally went down only to 491. The continuator who was responsible
for the sections of Book VII on the War of 502-6 is usually designated
‘ps.-Zachariah’.^"^ It is the work of a Syriac writer who made additions
to the church history and epitomised it, finishing his task c. 569.^^ It is
an important work that drew on official sources and at least one local
eyewitness for the Sasanid capture of Amid, as well as the subsequent
siege of the Sasanid garrison by the praesental armies of Patricius and
Hypatius, and later Celer. It is doubtful that ps.-Zachariah was first
published in Greek, for Evagrius Scholasticus cites only the pre-491
passages (viz. from the ‘real’ Zachariah of Mytilene’s church history)
when writing his own ecclesiastical history in the 590’s.^^ Book VII
contains a precise and important account of the fall of Amid. Ps.-
Joshua knew the basic details of this story quite well, whether he got
them through official ‘news sheets’ or oral sources. It was in such wide
circulation during the war years that he saw no need to give more than

The negative side is seldom emphasised. Cf. T. Honore, Tribonian (London, 1978),

5-30.

Greatrex has touched on some of these points (although with a different emphasis)
in Rome and Persia at War, 73f.

Aedijicia 3.2.1-14. See below, § 50 and notes.

Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, 65f.

Allen, Evagrius Scholasticus, 8f.

This is easily deduced from Allen, Evagrius Scholasticus, 142-151.

Below, § 53, nn. 292-296.

INTRODUCTION

XXXVll

the gist when he put his chronicle together after November 506 (§ 53),
as he does with other well-known events like the abolition of the
chrysargyron. Unlike ps.-Zachariah, who describes only the beginning
and end of the siege, ps.-Joshua offers a continuous account. It brings
in simultaneous events elsewhere, like the dispatch of the large
detachment across Tur ‘Abdin that culminated in the battle of Tell-
Beshmai and the Lakhmid raid on the territorium of Harran, both in
November 502.

The bulk of ps.-Zachariah’s war narrative consists of the fall of
Amid, a chronologically confused account of the run-up to, and battle
of Opadna (August 503), and the Roman siege of the Persian garrison
in Amid. Procopius emphasises the same events, but provides a
different and somewhat inferior collection of anecdotes. The precise
relationship between ps.-Zachariah and Procopius has not been studied.
We suggest that Procopius drew upon some of the same material, but
produced a blurred, Atticist version that lacks the clarity found in the
two Syriac sources; moreover, Procopius’ descriptions of combat are

often little more than ‘battle-pieces’. Ps.-Joshua was also well-
informed about the fortification of Dara-Anastasiopolis in 506, for
which ps.-Zachariah is our principal source along with Procopius’
retrospective report in the Buildings. As with the siege of Amid, ps.-
Joshua gives the basic details with acute brevity, and then goes on to
discuss ecclesiastical politics, the concentration and supplying of the
armies in Osrhoene again in 506, their movement to the frontier, and
the peace negotiations. Except for the treaty, the other sources give not
even a hint of these events.

SIXTH-CENTURY MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY
(i) Social Milieu

Ps.-Joshua’s chronicle is more than anything else a social
document.^^ Its author’s political biases are very much those of a well-

See below, § 50, n. 261. On the ‘battle-piece’ as a predominantly rhetorical style
of historical composition, see J. Keegan, The Face of Battle (London, 1976), 36-46.

Earlier studies are found in J. B. Segal, Edessa, ‘The Blessed 07y' (Oxford, 1970),
and ‘Mesopotamian communities from Julian to the rise of Islam’, Proceedings of the
British Academy 41 (1955), 109-139. S. Harvey, Asceticism and Society in Crisis. John
of Ephesus and the Lives of the Eastern Saints (Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1990).

XXXVlll

INTRODUCTION

informed provincial. His ethics and social attitudes resemble those of
middle-grade civil officials and soldiers who had risen through the
ranks, politically-minded bishops, lower clergy and monks. His
preoccupation with the realities of everyday life is closely attuned to the
sorts of pragmatic questions addressed in the law codes and reflected in
lesser documents like building inscriptions and papyri. This he
combines with an admiration for emperor Anastasius, who emerges
from the chronicle as the friend of the provincials and alleviator of the
ills of famine and war. Ps.-Joshua also reveals enthusiasm for imperial
generals like Areobindus and Celer, and the others who eradicated the
scourge of war from Osrhoene. Among the latter are aggressive
commanders like Timostratus dux of Osrhoene and Romanus dux of
Palaestina, whose bad experiences with rioting Gothic soldiery are
narrated with scarcely concealed amusement. Another figure is the
Goth Aid, tribounos of a force billeted in Harran, whom ps.-Joshua
seems to have interviewed personally about his experience as a ‘tunnel-
raf during the Roman siege of Amid (§ 71). Ps.-Joshua shares the
common prejudice of Syrian provincials against ‘Goths’, but can hardly
resist praising Aid’s courage or emphasising the comic features of their
behaviour.

Ps.-Joshua knew something of the social and political networks of
the provincial administration and praetorian prefecture, but it is not
easy to identify the precise milieux in which he moved. If we can
accept his story that he got much of his information about the Persian
War of 502-6 from high-ranking soldiers and diplomats, he must have
moved in important circles. In all probability he was a high official in
the bureaux of the civil governor or an ecclesiastic of some importance.
A civil career was the more obvious place for a man who knew how to
reason from historical examples, but one must recognise that monastic
epistolographers like Nilus of Ancyra and Isidore of Pelusium knew
this side of the Greek paideia as well. Either way ps.-Joshua was in a
position to get his hands on the ‘news sheet’ that seems to lie behind
much of the chronicle. We doubt that it can be proved that he is
certainly to be identified as Stratonikos the church administrator
(olkov 6 |io 9 ), later bishop of Harran (§ 42), but he does have more than
a passing familiarity with the affairs of that town. It could have been his
legal place of origin before the start of a political or ecclesiastical
career. Except Amid and Edessa it is the most frequently mentioned

INTRODUCTION

XXXIX

town in the chronicle (§ 42, 51-52, 59, 71), and one of the few places
whose territorium is mentioned in any detail (§ 52).

(ii) Paganism and Christianity

As to religious life, ps.-Joshua’s chronicle contains scattered details
about the survival of pagan calendar customs in Edessa. He associates
the performance of the lyar festival (which should be identified with
the Maiuma or Brytae) with the divine chastisement in the famine and
war that followed. There are two peculiarities about this, the absence of
the name of the divinity or any denunciation of sacrifice.*®^ If the lyar
festival was originally that of a female fertility goddess, her Syrian
name may have been Tar‘atha, whose cognate at Edessa and Harran
seems to have been Aphrodite. The supposition that it was a fertility
festival is confirmed by ps.-Joshua’s observation that ‘on the day’ it
was being celebrated in 499 the locusts came up ‘laying a substantial
number of eggs in our country’ (§ 33). The Edessans thus got an evil
return for the ritual, the destruction of their agriculture for the next two
years.

Ps.-Joshua makes no mention of the pagan community at Harran,

102

whose beliefs and practices at this time are well attested. He may
have expected his audience to draw an inference of divine punishment
from the Lakhmids’ raid against its territorium during the vintage in
November 502, which netted them 18,500 captives (§ 52).

Ps.-Joshua elsewhere mentions Jacob of Serug’s letter on the plague
of locusts (§ 54). He may also have known about Jacob’s ‘Discourse on
the Fall of the Idols’, which names the Syrian divinities worshipped at
Harran and Edessa.It, with ps.-Joshua’s report about the lyar

Imperial edicts had repeated the condemnation of pagan sacrifice in 451, c. 472
and, as it seems, c. 484. Cod. lust. 1.11.7-10. Cf. Trombley, HRC I 78-94. The
arguments cited by G. Fowden against a date of c. 484 for the last of these are beside the
point. JRS 85 (1995), 343. Fowden is mistaken in supposing that Cod. lust. 1.10.11 is
the Justinianic edict of 529 against pagan cult practices. ‘Polytheist religion and
philosophy’. The Cambridge Ancient History 13 (Cambridge, 1998), 558. The law in
question is in fact Cod. lust. 1.5.18. Honore, Tribonian, 65.

J. B. Segal, ‘Pagan Syriac monuments in the vilayet of Urfa’, AS 3 (1953), 97f.

For sources, see D. Chwolson, Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus, I (St. Petersburg,
1856), 301-471, etc. Cf. T. M. Green, The City of the Moon God: Traditions of Harran
(Leiden, 1992).

P. Martin (ed./tr.), ‘Discours de Jacques de Saroug sur la chute des idoles’,
Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft 29 {\S76), 107-147.

INTRODUCTION

festival, suggests that local memories about pre-Christian liturgies and
aetiologies, but also Christian temple conversions, were far from dead.
For example, Jacob puts in the peculiar detail of a pagan contemplating
how to piece together a smashed idol, probably with a view to
reconsecrating it and restoring its indwelling numen}^^ Jacob mentions
a group of shrines atop hills ringing a valley which resemble a group of
sites at Sumatar Harabesi on the Tektek plateau some 200 km. east of
Edessa.^^^ It is unknown when the temples there went out of use, but, if
there is a connection between the site and Jacob’s sermon, this may
have happened in the later fifth century. The dialectical opposites he
uses to celebrate the victory of Christ are vividly reminiscent of the
now famous inscription that records a temple conversion on the
martyrion of St. George at Zorava in the Provincia Arabia. It was
erected in 515/6.^^^ Jacob writes:

From this time onward, monasteries were built on the site of Baith-Gade, on the
summit[s] of mountains. Monasteries were built on the hills in place of the temples of
the gods. Solitaries made their dwellings on the summits. Wherever pagan gods {les
demons) had asylum, [Christian] altars were raised. Where daemonic shouts were once
heard, now the sweet recitations of holy men resound. In places where the devil
proclaimed his lies, Christ [now] organises his worship. In places where women loaded
tables with [the] food [of sacrifices], Christ gives his body. His light shines in all the
comers that darkness had invaded. He changes night to day throughout the cosmos. The
evil in creation He changes to good, as he once changed water into wine at the festival
[of Cana]. He stops the defiled festivals of idol-worship and rouses the crowds who give
holy glory [to God].

If one reads the sermon to the end, however, it turns out that the real
idol is lucre, and that the descriptions of cult are only an extended
simile. Nowhere does Jacob state that the sacrifices have continued
until his time. It is far from clear what cultic apparatus, if any, lay
behind the celebration of the lyar festival at Edessa in May 499.

104

105

106

Ibid., 136.

Segal, ‘Pagan Syriac mor\umQnts\passim.

There is good epigraphic evidence for the continuity of pagan cult down to the 6th
c. in other parts of Syria.

107

W. K. Prentice (ed.). Publications of an American Archaeological Expedition to
Syria in 1899 III: Greek and Latin Inscriptions (New York, 1908), 437a. Trombley,

HRC II 363f.

108

Martin, ‘Discours de Jacques’, 138.

INTRODUCTION

xli

As to Syriac Christianity, ps.-Joshua’s reports are consistent with
known beliefs and practices. He nowhere takes an explicit monophysite
line. It is doubtful that such an agenda lies behind the positive view he
takes of emperor Anastasius’ administrative acts. It is equally possible
that the Edessans had not hardened in favour of particular christological
position when ps.-Joshua was writing in the months after November
506.^^^ Apart from Sergius, the addressee of the prooemium, no monks
are mentioned in the chronicle; it deals instead with the acts of the
bishops and urban clergy during the locust plague, famine and Persian
War of 502-6. There is important and nearly contemporary information
in canon law documents governing the behaviour of ascetics and
priests. Three of them are attributed to Rabbula archbishop of Edessa
(412-36), another to Philoxenus archbishop of Mabbug-Hierapolis in

Euphratesia (485-518/9). A number of anonymous compilations also

• . 110
exist.

(iii) Urban and Rural Landscape

Very little survives in literary sources about the smaller towns and

urban territoria except the information found in ps.-Joshua’s chronicle.

He speaks in varying detail about the immediate environs of Edessa (§

59, 60, 62, 85-86), and to a lesser extent the territoria of Harran (§ 52),

Amid (§ 66) and Zeugma in Euphratesia (§ 68). Inscriptions in

Osrhoene are relatively few compared with other parts of Syria. This

was partly a consequence of the economics of transhumance in the

‘Arab.**^ There is circumstantial evidence in the Greek life of St.

Domitius {ob. 363) that Osrhoene and eastern Mesopotamia were the

transit route for merchants involved in overland trade between Antioch

112

in Syria I and Nisibis, which was then still under Roman control.
This would explain the relative frequency of references to inns in the

We owe this suggestion to Michael Whitby.

Arthur Voobus (ed./tr.), Syriac and Arabic Documents regarding Legislation
relative to Syrian Asceticism (Stockholm, 1960), docs. no. II-IX, pp. 24-86.

* “ Cf. L. Dilleman, Haute Mesopotamie orientate et pays adjacents (Paris, 1962),
73-79.

Acta Graeca S. Dometii Martyris, ed. J. Van den Gheyn, Analecta Bollandiana 19
(1900), 295-301 (routes between Nisibis and Resh‘aina-Theodosiopolis), 315 (mention
of a merchant who grazed his camels in the territorium of Cyrrhus in Euphratesia).

xlii

INTRODUCTION

inscriptions and Syriac canon law documents. These are clearly
distinguished from church guest-houses {xenodocheia)}^^ The life of
Domitius also suggests that Arabs were a significant ethnic component
on the open steppe inside the great bend of the Euphrates as merchants
as well as transhumants.^^^ Archaeological surveys will certainly yield
additional material evidence, but it seems unlikely that this will
radically affect the general pattern suggested here.^^^

Aerial surveys indicate a sprinkling of fortified towns along the
Khabur river, the eastern boundary of Osrhoene, few of which have

117

been excavated. Some of these had army formations billeted in them.
One of the more important was Thannourios (present-day Tell Tunaynir
in Syria), a walled city and acropolis that lay hard against the frontier
on the Khabur river. It was headquarters of a numerus of locally
recruited cavalry archers (equites sagittarii indigenae). It was a
frequent crossing point for Arabs raiding Osrhoene. In consequence,
Justinian is said to have upgraded its fortifications and provided a
stronger garrison.**^ Ps.-Joshua saw no reason to mention Thannourios,
although Timostratus dux of Osrhoene must have passed near it during
his raid against Jabal Sinjar in the spring of 504 (§ 69). Another such
place was the small fort and town site of Arabana or Oroba (present-
day ‘Araban in Syria), lying some 15 km. south Thannourios. It could

Rabbula, ‘Admonitions for monks’. Canon 3 in Voobus, Syriac and Arabic
Documents, 27. SEG 36, no. 1277. Cf. IGLS V no. 2068 (Bsherin, Phoenice Libanensis,
616 A.D.). The last-named hostel was certainly not built by passing troops, as the IGLS
editors suppose, because Sasanid armies had occupied all northern Syria and Palestine
by 613-14.

Rabbula, ‘Commands and admonitions to Priests’, Canon 22; ‘Canons of
Rabbula’, no. 2 in ibid., 42, 80. M. von Oppenheim and H. Lucas, ‘Griechische und
lateinische Inschriften aus Syrien, Mesopotamien und Kleinasien’, BZ 14 (1905), nos.
92 and 94 (Tella-Constantina, 456 (?) and 513 A.D.).

Ibid., no. 95 (Tella-Constantina, 6th c.), the funerary inscription of Qayum the
goods salesman (KoLoupa? TravT[o]7T(j6XT|9). Cf. Dilleman, Haute Mesopotamie, 88f.,
etc. The Acta S. Dometii mention Arabs living in skin tents in the territorium of Cyrrhus.
The phenomenon certainly existed in Osrhoene and Mesopotamia as well. Acta S.
Dometii (Van den Gheyn, 309).

E.g. B. Einwag, ‘Vorberichte tiber die archaologische Gelandebegehung in der
Westgazira’, DM 1 (1993), 23-43, where a trefoil cross (probably 6th c.) and other late
antique spolia are noted in a small domed building at Shaykh Qamar. Tafel la.

Cf. Dilleman, Haute Mesopotamie, 79-85.

*** See the comment of D. Kennedy and D. Riley, Rome’s Desert Frontier from the
Air (London, 1990), 118-121, with map and aerial photo.

INTRODUCTION

xliii

be the same as the variously reported castellum Arabum (3rd c.) or
castellum Arabionis (4th c.)- It had its own squadron of equites
sagittarii indigenae in the early fifth century. A third site is present-
day Marqada in Syria, lying on the middle course of the Kliabur 67 km.
north of Circesium. It has been suggested that Marqada was inhabited
in late Roman times, but its ancient name is unknown and the site has
not been surveyed.

The steppe had a scattering of non-fortified installations as well. An

inscription mentions the foundation of an inn (TTavSoKeloy) some 17

km. southeast of Edessa on the Roman road to Batnan-Serug. Three

caves were fitted out as stables, outside of which there was a structure

built on a platform where travellers could spend the night. A cistern

((t)p[eap]) was also dug at the site. Aurelius Dasius governor of

121

Osrhoene carried out the work c. 260 A.D.

Ps.-Joshua mentions many churches and monasteries outside the
walls of Edessa. We also know that a Christian basilica was built for the
monastery of St. Alexander in 471. It lies in the city’s territorium at
Houeidjit Halaoua. The Greek and Syriac foundation inscription names
a certain Sergius as the archimandrite and the founder as ‘bishop
Nonnus’; it impossible to say whether this was Nonnus archbishop of
Edessa or one of his suffragans, perhaps the bishop of Dausara. The
city councillor Cosmas and his wife Cosmia (eXeuGepa) sponsored the
nave mosaic. Their town of origin is unknown. This is tenuous
evidence for a degree of economic expansion in rural Osrhoene in the

123

decades before the great famine of 500-2.

Ibid., 156, with plan and aerial photo.

Ibid., 227f., with aerial photo.

SEG 36, no. 1277.

SEG 40, no. 1380 bis-ter. Cf. SEG 28, no. 1324. The Sergius in question lived at
too early a date to be considered as a possible addressee of ps.-Joshua’s chronicle.

The degree of economic expansion in urban territoria during the late 5th and early
6th c. is a complex question. Cf. the arguments of G. Tate for Syria I and II in Les
Campagnes de la Syrie du Nord du He au Vile siecle I: un example d'expansion
demographique et economique a la fin de Vantiquite (Paris, 1992), 303-332. Tate’s
analysis does not go far beyond the material evidence found in the Limestone Massif.
For a comparative model, see F. R. Trombley, ‘Monastic foundations in sixth-century
Anatolia and their role in the social and economic life of the countryside’, Byzantine
Saints and Monasteries, ed. N. M. Vaporis (Brookline, Mass., 1985), 45-59 = Greek
Orthodox Theological Review 30 (1985), 45-59.

xliv

INTRODUCTION

A picture of rural society in the neighbouring province of
Mesopotamia is found in the early chapters of John of Ephesus’ Lives
of the Eastern Saints It contains a history of the monastery of John
of Urtaye, which lay just outside the walls north of Amid, and gives
otherwise unknown information about Kawad’s siege of the city in 502-

125 w •/

3; but most of the material in these biographies postdates the raid of
the Sabir Huns in 515. It thus provides an important picture of the
territorium of Amid during the period of recovery after the Persian War
of 502-6.

MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY IN THE PERSIAN WAR OF 502-6

The Persian War of 502-6 created great social and cultural trauma in

Osrhoene and Mesopotamia. Ps.-Joshua traces the experience of war

back to the Hunnic invasion of 396/7, when Addai, magister militum

per Orientem, sat with his army behind the walls of Edessa and let the

enemy raid freely throughout Osrhoene (§ 9). Kawad’s invasion of 502

marked a sharp break with the relative calm that prevailed on the

frontiers in the fifth century. Until this time the provincial troops

under the duces of Osrhoene and Mesopotamia had as their main task

the repair of fortifications and patrolling the frontier against periodic

Arab raids. An inscription from Khan al-Abyad on the route between

Damascus and Palmyra sums up the problems of ensuring the security

of the Syrian steppes and the provincials’ imagined gratitude to the

soldiers for these services. It is dedicated to count Silvinus, who was

undoubtedly dux of Phoenice Libanensis (late 4th-5th c.). The site was

probably a mansio or halting station on an imperial post road:

] 24

John of Ephesus, Lives of the Eastern Saints, ed. and tr. E. W. Brooks, PO 17
(Paris, 1934), 1-307.

125

‘History of the monastery of John Urtaya’, Lives of the Eastern Saints 58, PO 19
(Paris, 1926), 218f. (564f.).

Cf. Bury, III-IO.

127

In general, see R. Grosse, Romische Militargeschichte von Gallienus bis zum
Beginn der byzantinischen Themenverfassung (Berlin, 1920), 272-320; Jones, LRE, 654-
57.

128

IGLS V no. 2704. The inscription clearly suggests that Silvinus also directed the
construction of a dam or artificial water basin. The frankly polytheistic character of the
inscription is contrasted by a Chi-Rho with the horizontal cross to one side of the
inscription. These features put it sometime between 355-450 A.D.

INTRODUCTION

xlv

O count {comes), you have restored a fortress {[c]astrum reddidisti) equipped with the
greatest symmetry, on a plain so arid and hostile to travellers because of its vast open
spaces, in case of the death of a neighbour whose fate is starvation, for nothing is more
oppressive than this. Silvinus, guardian of the formidable limes and its cities {limitis
ur[biu\m[que] fortissimae custus) and of the emperors by the confidence of those who
honour them throughout the world, you have prepared (this land) so as to profit from
rain-waters so that it can be maintained by the union of Bacchus and Ceres. So, traveller,
go through the course of your journey auspiciously; accept the advantage and recite with
praise the acts of a great-souled magistrate who shines in peace and in war. I pray to the
gods above that he, supported by higher authority, will found (other) such difficult
fortresses (to assault) for the emperors, and that he will rejoice in sons who will honour
the deeds of their father.

Local commanders sometimes built installations in cooperation with
ecclesiastical officials and monks. A mosaic inscription
commemorating the construction of a hospice in 481/2, on the road
from Tella-Constantina to Kiziltepe, gives the names of its founders,
Cyrus, comes and dux of Mesopotamia, and Elijah, presbyter and
archimandrite of an unnamed monastery. Military commanders were
also active builders in Cilicia and Isauria during and after Ulus’
rebellion in 484-488 where the dux was invested with the civil powers

130

of provincial governor {praeses). Known projects include the
refurbishment of the fortifications of Pompeiopolis and a small bath
building at Anemurium. The necropolis church was dedicated by an
officer in the locally stationed numerus}^^

(i) Demographic Impact

The first few years of the War of 502-6 saw a gigantic demographic
upheaval in Mesopotamian society. The central event was the siege and
fall of Amid between 5 October 502 to 10-13 January 503 (§ 50, 53). It
exercised a powerful influence on the provincials’ imagination for
decades to come. It is unknown how many people died in the
preliminary fighting, but ps.-Joshua and ps.-Zachariah agree that some
80,000 corpses were carried out of the city’s North Gate after the city
capitulated. The fortifications of Amid were about one kilometre square

SEG 41, no. 1511= C. Mango and M. M. Mango, ‘Inscriptions de la Mespotamie
du Nord’, TM 11 (1991), no. 2. The dux is otherwise unknown.

E.g. SEG 37, nos. 1321-1322 (Pompeiopolis, 5th-6th c.).

SEG 37, no. 1271 (Anemurium, late 5th c.); 1321.

SEG 2)1, no. 1287 (Anemurium, 450-500 A.D.).

xlvi

INTRODUCTION

or 100 hectares, leaving only about 12.5 square metres per person.

Amid would have been exceptionally crowded even with many fewer

persons inside the walls; they would have filled the public squares,

churches and rooftops of houses. Their numbers can be explained by

large numbers of persons taking refuge there after evacuating their

villages in the town’s territorium; it is also quite probable that much of

the rural population of Sophene, driven on by Kawad’s highly mobile

Hunnic cavalry, would have crossed the Tigris and taken refuge there

as well (§ 50).*^^ In practical terms, the figure of 80,000 persons could

reflect a population of 30,000 living in Amid and its suburbs, along

with the folk of some 50 large villages on the supposition that 1000

1^/1

persons is a reasonable figure for such places.

Similarly, on 26 November 502, Nu‘man’s force of Lakhmid Arab
cavalry raided the territorium of Harran, coming up by an unexpected
route after the battle of Tell-Beshmai. Ps.-Joshua indicates that some
18,500 captives were taken. It was the time of the vintage, and he
implies that many people normally resident inside the walls of Edessa
and Harran were out in the fields (§52). The figure could represent the
population of 15-20 villages. There can be no doubt that other
agriculturalists and traders were also caught at installations along the
route of the Lakhmid advance. The Persians and Huns meanwhile
raided the territorium of Tella-Constantina (§ 51).They did so again in
the operations of 503, this time extending the destruction as far as the
territoria of Edessa (§ 58) and Batnan-Serug (§ 60).

These grim events had serious consequences for the defence of
Osrhoene. Ps.-Joshua observes that the people of towns and fortresses
less defensible than Amid began to contemplate fleeing to the more
secure cities on the west bank of the Euphrates, and that Jacob of Serug
wrote Tetters of exhortation to all the cities, encouraging (people) to
trust in divine salvation and not flee’ in the winter of 503. Anastasius at
once dispatched troops to cover the towns of Osrhoene, but also to act
as a police force to stop the provincials from fleeing (§ 54). Allowing
the urban populations to flee in panic because of ‘rumours of war’

133

There is an important modem parallel to this in the run-up to the Japanese siege of
Nanking in December 1937. I. Chang, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust
of World War II (London, 1997), 81 f.

134 '

Very little demographic work of this kind has been done. Cf F. R. Trombley,
‘War and society in rural Syria c. 502-613 A.D.: observations on the epigraphy’, BMGS
21 (1997), 167-169, 177 and n. 56.

INTRODUCTION

xlvii

would have compromised the defensive network of roads, towns and
fortresses. These places relied on citizen militias strengthened by
provincial vexillations to hold their pedaturae or sections of the walls
that they repaired and maintained in peacetime. A rare epigraphic
example of this is found at Emesa in Phoenice Libanensis. It
commemorates the businessman Leontius’ repair of twenty-three feet of
the city wall (488/9 A.D.).*^^ Batnan-Serug surrendered to the Persians
in September 503, thanks to its broken-down fortifications (§ 63).^^^
The security of the frontiers in the decades after the Persian War of
502-6 is symbolised in an undated inscription, probably from the reign
of Justin I (518-27). It stood near a bridge not far from Nisibis on the
frontier between Roman Osrhoene and Sasanid Arbayistan:^^^

To the best-chosen emperor Justinus: his army of Oriens constructed (this monument) to
his fame: a warning to the barbarian nation coming from a statue of the triumphal
chariot.

(ii) Religious Response

The local churches tried to strengthen the argument by circulating
stories about the supposed apotropaic value of prominent local cults. At
Edessa, an inscription on one of the city gates containing the
apocryphal reply of Christ to the Arab king Abgar promising the
perpetual security of the city was seen as a palladium that protected the
‘sacred space’ enclosed by the fortifications. The Edessans saw proof of
this when the Lakhmid phylarch Nu‘man died after threatening to
attack Edessa in 503. A Christian amir of the latter’s tribal
confederation is said to have warned him off with a reassuring
argument that the Edessans must have repeated to themselves many
times: ‘Your majesty should not trouble to go to war against Edessa, for
over it there is an irrevocable declaration of Christ whom they worship,
that no enemy shall ever gain control of it’ (§ 58). Nu‘man’s
subsequent death, perhaps from erysipelas, was touted in Edessa as

For the effect of ‘rumours of war’, see Trombley, ‘War and society in rural Syria’,
207-209.

IGLS V no. 2246.

Jacob of Serug was probably not in the city at that time. Cf. below § 54 and nn.
303-304.

lustino imperatori dilectissimo exercitus eius Orientis gentem barbaram e curru
statuario cautionem ad gloriam constmxit. CIL III no. 212.

xlviii

INTRODUCTION

divine punishment for his blasphemous design - and doubtless with a
deep sense of relief.

(iii) Role of Bishops

As elsewhere in the Late Roman oikoumene, the Syrian bishops
began to play an increasingly important part in bolstering the morale of

139

besieged cities and fortresses. This transition became especially
pronounced in the early sixth century. It was a consequence of a whole
range of important civic functions being transferred to bishops. Existing
practice was finally codified in a law of 24 June 530, which required
them to pave roads, repair bridges, manage public grain expenditures,
erect and repair aqueducts, and procure wood to heat the public baths.
They were also supposed to inspect public works and review the
accounts pertaining to them.^"^^ The older practice is best reflected in a
building inscription of 476 at Chersonese in the Crimea from the reign
of Zeno:

Emperor Caesar Zeno, pious, victorious, trophy-bearing, great perpetual Augustus says:
Our most emulous piety ((t)LXoTLpTiaapei/Ti f| auTwv euaePeia) has made a gift of
monies collected in this city of ours as in all the cities from the revenue office - I am
speaking of the vicarate of the most devoted ballista artillerymen - through whom we
have rebuilt the walls for the safety of this same city and express thanks in setting up
this inscription in perpetual remembrance of our reign. And this tower was rebuilt in the
year 512 (of the era of Chersonese) in the fourteenth year of the indiction, with the most
exalted count Diogenes accomplishing (the work).

The older system was put under great pressure during the Persian War,
and there is clear evidence of bishops being involved in the
construction and repair of fortifications near the end of hostilities in late

For this general period, cf. N. Garsoian, ‘Le Role de Thierarchie chretienne dans
les rapports diplomatiques entre Byzance et les Sassanides’, REA N.S 10 (1973-74),
120-122, 129f. In later wars bishops played an important role in gathering intelligence
about Sasanid Persia. A. D. Lee, ‘Evagrius, Paul of Nisibis and the problem of loyalties
in the mid-sixth century’. Journal of EcclesiaticalHistory 44 (1993), 569-585.

Cod. lust. 1.4.26. The provincial epigraphy of the Roman East illustrates this
graphically, e.g. IGLS I 288.

CIG IV no. 8621. We prefer the emendation a<u>TU)i^ (in the sense of fipoiv) to
the editors’ auTwv.

INTRODUCTION

xlix

142

506. The most important new project was the fortification of Dara at
the southeastern comer of Tur ‘Abdin. Thomas archbishop of Amid
personally supervised the works, but delegated many tasks to his clergy
(§ 90 and notes). A smaller-scale project using the same organisational
methods is known from Bouz el-Khanzir in Syria I, a province lying
outside the main zone of military operations, but nevertheless at risk
from Lakhmid Arab raids. The new fort (KaTa(|)U'yLov, ‘refuge’) lay in
the territorium of Anasartha-Theodoropolis and was completed a few
weeks before the peace treaty was agreed between the Roman and

143

Persian plenipotentiaries on or before 28 November 506:

(Cross) The refuge of God, your safety, O Christ! It was built by the command of
bishop Stephen of Theodor(opolis?) and Sergius the presbyter and John the lector and
manager [of the church’s estates] (in the year) 817 (of the Seleucid era) on 1[.]
November.

Ps.-Joshua mentions only one instance of this, when in 505/6 Sergius
bishop of Birta (present-day Birejik) probably rebuilt the city wall,
afterwards receiving part of his expenses back from the emperor. The
same was done at Europus in Euphratesia, but here provincials bore
most of the cost (§ 91).

In the War of 502-6, the Syrian clergy assisted the military
authorities and strengthened the resolve of the civil population in
different ways. So, for example, an unnamed bishop or presbyter
(lepeus) is said to have negotiated an end to the slaughter in Amid after
the city fell;^'^'^ he had apparently migrated there before the Persian
investment began in October 502.*"^^ In 503 Bar-Hadad bishop of Tella-
Constantina is reported to have met Kawad outside the fortifications
with gifts and to have begged him not to assault the city.^"^^ When the
mission failed, Bar-Hadad gave great moral support to the defence (§
58):

The evidence is summarised by C. Capizzi, L'imperatore Anastasio I (491-518)
(Rome, 1969), 206f, 209f, 214-228.

IGLSy no. 270, with a suggested emendation of the town’s name.

Procopius invariably uses the term lepeug to designate Christian bishops, as for
example Bar-Hadad of Tella-Constantina. See next two notes.

Procopius, Wars 1.7.30-32.

Procopius, Wars 2 13.14.

INTRODUCTION

They guarded the city with care, night and day, while the holy Bar-Hadad would go
round visiting them, praying for them and blessing them. He praised their diligence,
gave them encouragement, and sprinkled holy water on them and on the city wall He
also carried the eucharistic bread with him on his rounds to enable them to have
communion at their posts, so that on this account none of them should abandon his
guard and go down from the wall. He even went out confidently to the Persian king and
spoke with him and mollified him, and when Kawad saw the man’s seriousness and
appreciated the vigilance of the Romans, it seemed to him pointless to be doing nothing
at Telia with the whole army which he had with him.

It is quite possible that Ephrem Syrus’s invocatory hymns on the mid¬
fourth century sieges of Nisibis were a part of this liturgy, as one telling
passage suggests: ‘Place within you the living body, that it may be a

147

wall for your lives.’ The defence of fortresses was risky whenever
regular soldiers cooperated with ad hoc militias, who might bolt at the
first sign of a determined assault. Here, as at Edessa, Christian clergy
and commanders alike guaranteed the integrity of the city’s ‘sacred
space’ by pointing to the symbols of salvation both material and
spiritual. The practice of parading icons and relics was a direct
consequence of this.^"^^

(iv) Economic Impact

Another feature of the War of 502-6 was the wrecking of the
provincial infrastructure in Osrhoene by the Sasanid and Roman
armies. This included the destruction of habitable villages and many
agricultural installations. When Kawad’s army reached Edessa in
September 503, the civil authorities (possibly instructed by
Areobindus) ordered the demolition of all inns and monasteries near the
fortifications to deprive the enemy of points of refuge and to provide

Hymn 13.21 cited in S. Bonian, ‘Saint Ephrem on war, Christian suffering and the
eucharist’, Parole del’Orient 11 (1983), 160. We owe this suggestion to Clive Havard.

Another illustration of this, dating from the sixth- and seventh-century Avar and
Slav sieges of Thessalonica, is found in the Miracula of St. Demetrius: ‘While he held
the episcopate, the aforementioned father John encouraged the defenders not to be
despondent ... [He] brought courage to the citizens ... by remaining with them on the
wall until they were fully prepared for combat.’ Miracula S. Demetrii. Les Plus Anciens
Recueils des miracles de Saint Demetrius et la penetration des Slaves dans les Balkans^
ed. P. Lemerle I (Paris, 1979), 181.

Thomas archbishop of Apamea (Syria II) exhibited a supposed relic of the true
cross during Khusrau I’s siege of the city in 540. The wood was said to have great
apotropaic power ((|)uXaKTppLov peya), but it is not certain if the relic was carried round
the walls. Procopius, Wars 2.11.14-19.

INTRODUCTION

clear fields of fire for the artillery sited on the fortifications. Other
measures included burning down the village of Kephar Selem, cutting
down hedges in the orchards and parks near the city wall, and felling
the trees. In addition, martyr relics and certainly the silver liturgical
vessels were brought in from the rural chapels (§ 59), among them the
church of St. Sergius and that of Sts. Cosmas and Damian. The
territorium of Edessa took years to recover from this to judge from the
fact that Osrhoene and Mesopotamia were given a complete tax
remission for 505/6. A one-third reduction was also granted to
Euphratesia, apparently because the territorium of Mabbug-Hierapolis
was used as a staging area for armies entering the zone of operations (§
78). A return to pre-war economic conditions is suggested by the
completion of a mosaic in the narthex of a monastery church in or near
Callinicum. The Syriac inscriptions indicate its completion in August
509 .‘^‘

Kawad’s attack on Edessa kept the price of wheat high right through
the war years. Many people had left the land, migrating to Euphratesia,
and many storage installations, draught animals and trees had been
destroyed. It was perhaps thought unwise to practice agriculture
anywhere except near the walls of a large city. But with armies

152

comprising some 40-50,000 men in the zone of operations, the price
of grain remained very dear, approximating to the famine conditions
that had existed in 500-2. Between 502-5, prices seem to have
remained steady at 4 modii of wheat and 6 modii of barley to the
solidus. Much of the rural population in Osrhoene had migrated to
safety in Euphratesia, so the figure represents a reduced number of both
producers and consumers. It was only after the early summer harvest of
505 that prices began to drop, falling to 6 modii of wheat and 10 of
barley to the solidus. This came partly as a result of agriculturalists
returning to the land with a feeling of greater security, after Celer and
Areobindus carried the war into Sasanid territory in 504.

The Kuomintang forces did this for identical reasons during the Japanese siege of
Nanking in December, 1937. Chang, Rape of Nanking^ 69f.

‘^‘5'£G41,no. 1496.

Cf. Jones, LRE, 654-657.

153

On the famine, see J. Durliat, De la Ville antique a la ville byzantine: le probleme
des subsistances (Rome, 1990), 402-420, etc. Cf. H. Leclainche, ‘Crises economiques a
Edesse (494-506) d’apres la chronique du pseudo Josue le Stylite’, Pallas 27 (1980), 89-
100 .

lii

INTRODUCTION

A NOTE ON CHRONOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

The basic feature of the chronicle as a historiographic genre is the
presentation of events in an annalistic format. This requires fitting them
into an accepted chronological reference frame and reporting those of
each year in sequence. The eastern provinces of the Later Roman
Empire had diverse systems of computing years, months and days.
Those in use between 494-506 included the regnal years of emperors,
consular dates and the era of the province. The system worked
somewhat differently at Edessa. As a Macedonian foundation later
incorporated into the Seleucid empire, Edessa used the so-called
Seleucid calendar. It was devised shortly after Seleucus I Nicator
prevailed at the battle of Gaza against Demetrius Poliorcetes (summer
312 B.C.) and remained in use for centuries, even after the Muslim
conquest of Osrhoene in 639. It also went by such diverse names as the
‘era of the Greeks’, ‘era of the Byzantines’ ('Pa)|iaLOL at Amid), and
‘era of Alexander’. In late Roman times it was used as the provincial
era of Osrhoene, Mesopotamia and Syria II in contracts, municipal
decrees and public registers. It turns up in foundation inscriptions on
churches and public buildings, and in funerary inscriptions. The register
of a parchment deed of sale composed in 243 A.D. gives some idea of
the range of dating systems available to the citizens of Edessa:

In the sixth year of emperor Marcus Aurelius Gordianus pious fortunate Augustus; in the
consulship of Annius Arrianus and Tribonius Pappus; in the month of lyar (= May) in
the year 554 of the former [Seleucid] reckoning; and in the year 31 of the freedom of the
renowned [city] Antoni[ni]ana Edessa, the Colonia Metropolis Aurelia Alexandria; in
the term of residence (?) of Marcus Aurelius Antiochus son of Bel-shu eques Romanus;
and in the second term as general (aTpaTpyos’) of Marcus Aurelius Abgar son of Ma‘nu,
son of Agga eques Romanus, and of Abgar son of Hafsai son of Bar Kammar, on the
ninth day of the aforesaid month.

The witness of ps.-Joshua and the provincial epigraphy suggest that
most of these dating systems had gone into abeyance by the late fifth
century. The Seleucid era seems to have prevailed in the provincial

Y. E. Meimaris et alii, Chronological Systems in Roman-Byzantine Palestine and
Arabia: The Evidence of Dated Greek Inscriptions (Athens, 1992), 53f. V. Grumel,
Trade d’etudes byzantines /. La chronologie (Paris, 1958), 209f.

Translated with modifications from the text of C. C. Torrey (ed. pr.), ‘A Syriac
parchment from Edessa of the year 243 A.D.*, Zeitschrift fur Semitistik 10 (1935), 36-40.

INTRODUCTION

liii

registers along with the year of the indiction, the fifteen-year tax
assessment cycle implemented by Diocletian and given its final form by
Constantine the Great on 1 September 312.*^^ This is evident, for
example, in the inscriptions of Tella-Constantina in Mesopotamia (late
5th-early 6th c.).‘^^ Ps.-Joshua gives the Seleucid date for each year
between 494-506, but mentions the indiction only implicitly, when the
subject of the annual tax assessment comes up. For example, Peter
archbishop of Edessa journeyed to Constantinople sometime between
July and the end of October 500 to petition for a remission of the total
tax paid by the agricultural smallholders of Osrhoene (auvreXeia) (§
29). This trip coincided with the new year of the indiction, by which
time the tax requirements for the coming year were supposed to have
been worked out in the bureaux of the praetorian prefect of Oriens. Ps.-
Joshua did not have to state this weighty fact directly, for it was
obvious to his readership.

Not once does ps.-Joshua give the regnal year of Anastasius. Nor
does he mention the names of the consuls. He does, however, report the
publication of three imperial edicts between 498-502: the ban on the
lyar festival, the abolition of wild beast hunts, and the cancellation of
the chrysar^ron or collatio lustralis, the much-hated tax on urban
tradesmen.The prescript and postscripts of such documents
invariably give the day and month according the Roman calendar, the
place of issue, and name of the imperial officials to whom they are
addressed, often the praetorian prefect, although a disproportionate
number of Anastasius’ laws were directed to Celer the magister
officiorum. The edicts which survive fall into two categories: those
dated by the consuls of the year, and those from which the date, but not
the addressee, were deleted by the commission that edited the Codex
lustinianus in 528-34.*^^ In every instance ps.-Joshua omits the dating
formula, summarises the edict, and inserts it into his annalistic scheme.
Of the three laws he summarises, only the cancellation of the
chrysargyron survives in the Codex lustinianus, and its date has been

Grumel, Chronologie, 192-203. Jones, LRE, 61-68, 451-456. Meimaris,
Chronological Systems, 32-34.

M. von Oppenheim and H. Lucas, ‘Griechische und lateinische Inschriften aus
Syrien, Mesopotamien und Kleinasien’, BZ 14 (1905), 60f., nos. 92-94.

For the sources, see Jones, LRE, 1178f. Anastasius’ laws are indexed at Corpus
luris Civilis II: Codex lustinianus, ed. P. Krueger (Berlin, 1954), 508.

Honore, Tribonian, 44-53, 56f. Cf. Bury, LRE II 395f. Jones, LRE, 477.

liv

INTRODUCTION

160

deleted. Ps.-Joshua’s internal chronology puts the arrival and

publication of the edict between 1 May and 5 June 498 (§ 31).^^^

Ps.-Joshua computes all his dates by the Seleucid year, which ran
from 1 October to 30 September. He also adopts common practice in
Osrhoene of using the twelve Syrian names of the months. In the
translation we have substituted their Roman equivalents for the sake of
clarity. The Syrian months are, from the beginning of the Seleucid year:

I Teshrin = October

II Teshrin = November

I Kanun = December

II Kanun = January
Shubat = February
Adar = March

Nisan = April
lyar = May
Khaziran = June
Tammuz = July
Ab = August
Ilul = September

In seven instances, ps.-Joshua also gives the day of the week.^^^ We
find that he has each time reported it correctly. This is a strong
argument in favour of the chronological accuracy of his work:

Roman Date

Day of Week

Syrian Date

17 May 496

Friday

17 lyar 807

23 October 499

Saturday

23 I Teshrin 811

22 August 502

Thursday

22 Ab813

5 October 502

Saturday

5 I Teshrin 814

17 September 503

Wednesday

17 Ilul 814

24 September 503

Wednesday

24 Ilul 814

19 March 504

Friday

19 Adar 815

Another feature of the chronicle is the reporting of cosmic events,
particularly eclipses, earthquakes and comets. It is possible to date
comets from the Chinese annals because of Edessa’s latitude in the
northern hemisphere. Ps.-Joshua mentions the sighting of a comet in

Cod. lust. 11.1 (Krueger II 423).

The bracketing dates are found in §§ 30, 32.

Grumel, Chronologie, 174.

‘^^§§27,36, 47, 50, 60, 62, 68.

See the table in F. K. Ginzel, Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen
Chronologie III (Leipzig, 1914), 128-131. For a different system of calculation, see E. J.
Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World (London, 1980), 60.

Ho Peng Yoke, ‘Ancient and mediaeval observations of comets and novae in
Chinese sources’. Vistas in Astronomy 5 (1962), 127-225.

INTRODUCTION

January 500 (the ‘spear of war’) (§ 37), but the correct date appears to
be 13 February 501.*^^ As to eclipses, computer programmes exist for
calculating the path of the zone of totality and its penumbra. The
chronicler mentions a ‘solar’ event that has sometimes been mistaken
for an eclipse (§ 36), but a close reading of the text suggests it was
actually caused by some form of ash or dust. In contrast, seismic
history can only be ascertained from literary sources and archaeological
data. Ps.-Joshua reports major earthquakes at Nicopolis in Armenia I
and Arsamosata in Sophene (September 499) and at Nicomedia,
Ptolemais, Sidon and Tyre (22 August 502). The earlier earthquake
catalogues require updating in the light of recent excavations.

See below, § 37, n. 176.

See below, § 36, n. 171.

N. N. Ambraseys, ‘A note on the chronology of Willis’ list of earthquakes in
Palestine and Syria’, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 52 (1962), 77-80;
D. H. Amiran, ‘A revised earthquake catalogue of Palestine’, Israel Exploration Journal
1 (1950-51), 223-246. The earthquake catalogue of the Later Roman Empire is largely
based on Theophanes, John Malalas, Marcellinus Comes, the Paschal Chronicle, etc. Cf.
Grumel, Chronologie, 478, whose dates differ from ours because they derive from
Martin’s edition of ps.-Joshua.

SIGLA

MS. Cod. Vat. Syr. 162

^ Supplement or emendation

[ ] Lacuna in manuscript

( ) Idiomatic expansion

1-101 in margin Chapters ed. Wright, The Chronicle of

Joshua the Stylite

235-317 in text Pages ed. Chabot, Incerti auctoris ps.-

Dionysianum I

A HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF THE PERIOD OF

distress' which occurred in edessa, amid,

AND ALL MESOPOTAMIA

Sergius, most excellent of men, priest and abbot:

I have received the letter of your pious Holiness, in which you direct
me to write for you, as it were, the memorial of (the time) when the
locusts came, the sun was dimmed, there was earthquake, famine, and
plague, and the war of the Romans and Persians. There are also some
extravagant eulogies of me in it, which make me feel great
embarrassment in private, because in reality not one of them is
applicable to me. I would like to write down the things which (pertain)
to you, but the eye of my mind is unable to observe and perceive as it
(truly) is the wonderful robe which your vigorous will has woven for
you and with which it has clothed you. It has become manifestly clear
that you glow with the love that fulfils the law,"^ for you are concerned
not only for the brothers who are under your direction at the present
time, but also for all lovers of learning who in the future will enter your
blessed monastery. By means of writings, you wish, in your care (for
them), to leave behind memorials of the punishments [236] inflicted in
our times on account of our sins, so that when they read and see what
happened to us, they may guard against our sins and escape our
punishments. One has to feel awe at your abundant love, which is shed
forth upon all men, not failing or vanishing. I cannot, however, present
it as it (truly) is, since I have not been close to its operation, nor do I

‘ Or: A CHRONOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVE OF THE DISTRESS.

^ On the prooemium of this work (§§ 1-6), see our general remarks in the Introduction,
pp. xii-xiii, and the detailed analysis of Riad, Preface, especially pp. 74-100.

Lit.: ‘God-loving’.

^ Cf. Romans 13 : 10.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

know (how) to talk about it on the basis of the (single) audience which I
once had (with you).^

Like Jonathan, the true friend, you have tied yourself to me in love,
but the bonding of Jonathan’s soul with David’s,^ after seeing that the
giant was killed by his hand and the (Israelite) army was saved, was not
as great as this, because he loved (David) for his noble deeds, but you
have loved me more than yourself although you have not seen anything
noble in me. Neither is Jonathan’s deliverance of David from death at
the hands of Saul worthy of admiration on the scale of this
(graciousness) of yours, for he was merely repaying a debt. (David),
after all, had previously delivered him from death and saved him and
the whole of his father’s family from death at the hands of the
Philistine. Now I have done nothing comparable to this for you, yet
you are perpetually interceding with God for me, that I may be
delivered from Satan, and that he may not slay me for my sins.
However, it is appropriate to say that you love me as David did Saul.
Like him, you are so intoxicated by the abundance of your kindness
that, on account of the fervour of your love, you do not realise what my
(true) measure is, but you attribute to me more than I possess. In the

^ Expressions of modesty and protestations by the author that his work is merely a
response to a request from another are frequently found in the prooemia of literary works
of antiquity and later periods; cf above, p. xiii and n. 3.

^ 1 Samuel 18:1.

’’ Cf. 1 Samuel 17 and 19-20.

Comparisons (synkriseis) were a regular part of rhetorical education (cf, e.g., the
Progymnasmata of ‘Hermogenes’ and Aphthonius, in L. Spengel, Rhetores Graeci II,
14-15 and 42-44. They included both persons and actions (prosopo and pragmata, ibid.,
42.29-30); and ps.-Joshua here employs both that which ‘puts the one ahead, praising
also the other to which we prefer it’[Jonathan’s love of David] and that of equality
[David’s love of Saul] (ibid., 14.25-29). That the mainspring of a pupil’s achievement is
the passionate love of his master for him is an old theme of Greek philosophical
literature, going back to the Socratic model (cf H.-I. Marrou, A History of Education in
Antiquity (London, 1956), pp. 29-33). Comparison of different kinds of love is a
widespread literary topos (cf Curtius, Literature, pp. 116-117, n. 26), and ‘the love of a
requester’ was often linked to ‘the affected modesty of an author’ (cf Riad, Preface, p.
84). It is not surprising that in a Christian context, biblical rather than classical Greek
models were preferred for the love of master and pupil. As Riad, Preface, p. 83 has
observed, the model of David and Jonathan is found in Christian literature in the
farewell speech of Gregory Thaumaturgus to Origen (cf Gregoire le Thaumaturge:
Remerciement a Origene, ed./trans. H. Crouzel, Sources chretiennes 148 (Paris, 1969),
VI, §§ 85-88, p. 130/131). In ps.-Joshua, these comparisons serve both to highlight the
praise of the addressee (who is compared ultimately to David) and the affected modesty

TRANSLATION

past, you have remedied my deficiency by the instruction contained in
your letters, taking as much care over me as parents do over their
children, [237] attending to all their needs while receiving no benefit
(in return). Today, however, in your discretion you have humbled
yourself and requested me to write for you what is beyond my capacity.

In this very (matter) you are especially magnanimous, for although you
understand these things better than I myself do, you (nevertheless) wish
to learn them from me.

I will not begrudge you or decline (to do) what you have directed, 3

but you should know, however, that even when I saw these signs that
occurred and the punishments which followed them, I thought that they
should be written down and preserved in a memorial, and not (be
allowed to) pass into oblivion. Having regard to the feebleness of my
mind and the ignorance of my soul, I held back from doing it, but now
that you have directed me to do this very thing, I am as frightened as
someone who cannot swim well who has been ordered to go down into
deep water. Since I trust on your prayers to help me out, continually
offered by you to God on my behalf, I believe that by the providence
which (saves men) from drowning, I shall be drawn up from the sea
into which you have thrown me, being (allowed to) swim in its
shallows in accordance with my ability, since its depths are
unfathomable. For who can properly tell of the things done by God in
his wisdom for the extirpation of sins and the punishment of
transgressions? Indeed, a full understanding^ of the divine economy is
hidden even from the angels. You can see this from the parable of the
tares in the Gospel: when the servants of the householder said to him,

‘Do you want us to go and weed them out?’ he said to them - he who
(alone) knew things as they (really) were - ‘No, lest in weeding out the
tares you also uproot with them [238] the wheat’.But this we (can)
say, according to our knowledge: our punishments came about in such
profusion because of the extent of our sins, and if the divine protection
had not been bound round the world so that it should not be dissolved,
all human life might have come to an end. For in what times did such

of the author (compared ultimately to Saul). It is likely that this ultimate comparison of
David and Saul was suggested by that of David and Jonathan, but it is interesting to note
David’s affected modesty in relation to Saul (I Sam. 24 : 15 and 26 : 20) had already
become a literary topos in Jerome (cf Curtius, Literature, p. 84).

^ ‘exactness’.

‘“Matt. 13 : 28-29.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

afflictions occur with (such) severity, except those in which we live?
Because the cause of (the afflictions) has not been eliminated, they
have still <not> stopped. Along with that <which> we saw with our
eyes, heard with our ears, and through which we lived, the news from
far and near also terrified <us>,^* and the catastrophes which happened
in one place after another: fearful earthquakes, the flattening of cities,
famines and plagues, wars and tumults, the capture and exile of (whole)
regions, and the destruction and burning of churches.

As these things have astonished you also by their multiplicity, you
have commissioned me to write them down in words of sadness and
sorrow which will impress readers and listeners. I understand that you
have said this (to me) out of your zeal for virtue, so that there should be
remorse in those who hear them, and that they should be brought to
repentance. Nevertheless, you should be aware that it is one thing to
write dolefully, but another (to write) truthfully. Anyone who has a
natural eloquence may, if he so wishes, write sad and sorrowful
narratives, but I am plain of speech.*^ What I shall commemorate in
this book is what all people in our country will testify to be true, and it
is up to those who read or hear it, after examining it if they so wish, to
come to repentance. But perhaps someone might say, ‘What is the
utility (to be derived) from these things by those who read them, if
exhortation is not mingled with the account?’ [239] As one who is
unable to do this, I answer that the punishments which came upon us
are sufficient to admonish us and those who come after us, and that by
the memorial and the reading of them, they will teach <us> that they
were sent upon us because of our sins. If they did not teach us this,
they would indeed be without utility for us, but it is impossible to assert
this, for punishments can assuredly be a substitute for us in place of
teaching. All believers under heaven may testify that they were sent
upon us because of our sins, following the word of the blessed Paul,
who says, ‘When we fall under judgement from our Lord, we are being

" MS.: ‘me’.

2 Cor. 11:6. On the topos of the appropriateness of a plain as against a rhetorical
style in historical works, cf. above, p. xiii. That of the utility of history as a guide for
future actions and generations also goes back to classical historians: cf. Herodotus 1.1;
Thucydides 1.22.4; Lucian, How to write History 42; and on the topos in late antique
and medieval writers, Simon, ‘Untersuchungen I’, pp. 78-83; Riad, Preface, pp. 60 and
93.

Read (Wright). MS.:

TRANSLATION

punished in order that we may not be condemned with the world.
For the punishment of men in this world is entirely for the purpose of
restraining them from their sins and making easier for them the
judgement of the world to come. A double reward will be given to
those who are punished on account of sinners while themselves having
committed no sin, but the mercy which occurs all the time, even for the
unworthy, is because of the kindness, grace, and patience of God, who
wills that this world should survive until the time appointed in his
unerring knowledge.

It is evident that this is so^^ from the demonstrations of the Holy

Scriptures, and from the things which happened to us, about which we

intend to write. For look, the afflictions of famine and plague bore

down on us at the time of the locusts, until we were close to being

reduced to destruction. Then God had compassion on us, undeserving

as we were, and gave us a brief breathing-space from the afflictions

pressing in upon us. This (happened), as I have said, because of [240]

his grace. After we were refreshed, he changed the punishments and
^ 16
struck us by means of ‘the Assyrian’ designated ‘the rod of anger’. In

saying that God struck us with the Persians, I do not abrogate their

freedom, nor, following God, do I bring forward the accusation of their

1 *7

presumption, but when I consider that for our sins he inflicted no
punishment on them, I conclude that he struck us by means of them.
The ill will of that nation^^ became especially clear in the fact that they
showed no mercy to those who were given into their power, for to show
their delight it was their custom to rejoice in the misfortune of men.
Indeed, the prophet reproaches them for this very thing, and when

1 Cor. 11 : 32.

The text which follows, up to n. 29, belongs to the substituted folio 66 of the MS., and
is apparently shorter than the text of the original folio 66 which it replaced. Cf. the
Introduction, pp. xxiii-xxiv.

Isaiah 10:5. ‘Assyrian’ of course here designates the Persians.

Cf. ibid., 7-15. The passage is difficult. Possibly translate: ‘nor do I attribute to God
the blame for their presumption’.

Roman military successes after mid-503 do not support ps.-Joshua’s thesis of Persian
immunity from chastisement. Cf. the operational raid in 504 of Areobindus, magister
militum per Orientem. During its march around Tur ‘Abdin, his army is said to have
killed 10,000 Persian and Armenian men (mostly civilian inhabitants of Arzanene and
Zabdicene), taken 30,000 women and children captive along with 120,000 animals, and
to have destroyed a 7,000-man force dispatched against it from Nisibis. Cf. below, § 75.

Or: ‘The will of that wicked nation’.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

prophesying about the destruction of Babylon says, as from the mouth
of the Lord, T was angry with my people for they dishonoured my

inheritance, and I delivered them into your hands, but you showed them

no mercy.’ Similarly, (the Persians) for their merciless delight

inflicted misery on us, as they are so accustomed, even though the ‘staff

21 ^
of their blow’ did not reach our bodies (in Edessa) and they could not

gain the mastery of our city, since the promise of Christ given to the

believing king Abgar could not be annulled. He said, ‘Your city shall

be blessed, and no enemy shall ever have mastery over it.’

Nevertheless, through the believers who were plundered, captured,

killed, or massacred in other cities which were taken, and who became

like mud in the streets, all who have learned to suffer with those who

suffer have tasted a fair amount of suffering. Even those,

furthermore, who were far removed from it, [241] were tormented by

Isaiah 47 : 6.

Ibid., 10:5.

For the alleged promise of Christ to Abgar Ukkama, cf., e.g., Doctrina Addai, p. .n (tr.

Howard, p. 9); Jacob of Serug, Letter 20 (ed. Olinder, p. 129); Procopius, Wars 2.12.26.
On the origin and dissemination of this sentence, cf. Segal, Edessa, pp. 73-76; H. J. W.
Drijvers, ‘The Abgar Legend’, New Testament Apocrypha I, ed. W. Schneemelcher and
R. McL. Wilson (Cambridge, 1991), 492-500. Whatever the origin of the statement may
have been, by the 6th century it reflected the apotropaic hopes of populations threatened
by barbarian attack all over the Roman Orient. Copies of Jesus’ alleged letter were
erected as inscriptions on the gates of many towns and fortresses. Examples survive at
Ephesus and Euchaita in Asia Minor, and at Philippi in Macedonia. For Philippi: D.
Feissel, Recueil des Inscriptions chretiennes de Macedoine du Ille au Vie siecle, BCH
Supplement 8 (Paris, 1983), no. 222 (5th-6th c.). The Greek of the inscription at
Ephesus does not correspond exactly to the Syriac: ‘and he will make a sufficiency for
your city so that no one of your enemies will have authority over it or shall ever’ (xal
TroLpaeL elg Tf)v iroXLv oou to iKavov TTpos’ to ppSeva twv twv owy Tf)y

efouCTiay TauTp? exety f\ oxely ttotc). H. Gregoire (ed.), Recueil des Inscriptions
grecques chretiennes de TAsie Mineure I (Paris, 1922), no. 109. Cf. H. Wankel, Die
Inschriften von Ephesos, la (Bonn, 1979), no. 46 (5th-6th c.), whose transcription differs
radically from that given by Gregoire. Near Euchaita: Studia Pontica III: Recueil des
inscriptions grecques et latines du Pont et de TArmenie, edd. J. G. C. Anderson, F.
Cumont, H. Gregoire (Brussels, 1910), no. 210 (5th-6th c.). One of the Nessana papyri
(Palaestina III, 6th-7th c.) contains a longer recension. Excavations at Nessana II:
Literary Papyri, edd. L. Casson and E. Hettich (Princeton, 1950), no. 7.

Isaiah 10:6.

^“Cf. Rom. 12 : 15.

TRANSLATION

fear for their lives on account of their lack of faith, for they thought that

the enemy would gain the mastery of Edessa, as he had of other cities.

These (are matters) about which we are going to write for you, but
since according to the saying of the wise man Solomon, ‘War is
produced by provocation’, and you wish to learn this very thing,
(namely) from what causes it was provoked, I wish <to> make known
to you in a few words where the causes originated, even though it may
seem that I am speaking about things whose time has passed. Shortly
afterwards, I shall then inform you also (of the events) when these
causes gained in strength. For even though this war was stirred up (by
God) against us on account of our sins, nevertheless the cause arose on
account of political circumstances which I wish to relate for you, in
order that you should be clearly acquainted with this matter, so as not to
be deceived with some silly people into blaming him who is in
government, the faithful emperor Anastasius. He is not the origin of
the war. On the contrary, the fact is that it was <provoked> long ago,
as you will be able to see from what I (am now about to) write for

you.

Ps.-Joshua is here thinking of Amid in Mesopotamia, Batnan-Serug in Osrhoene,
Theodosiopolis-Erzerum in Armenia Interior (which had a quasi-provincial structure)
and Martyropolis in the Armenian satrapies. Cf. M. Whitby, ‘Notes on some Justinianic
constructions’, Byzantinisch-Neugriechische Jahrbiicher 23 (1987), 106f. and notes. On
the quasi-provincial status of Armenia Interior and the satrapies ante 527, see N.
Adontz, Armenia in the Period of Justinian: the Political Conditions Based on the
Naxcirar System, ed./tr. N. Garsoian (Lisbon, 1970), 85-101, where the author observes
that ‘[they] bore the characteristics of independent possessions, externally attached to
the Empire but entirely autonomous in internal life and organisation’ (p. 85). But cf.
ibid., 409, n. 22b.

Proverbs 20 : 18; 24 : 6. On the surprising translation of the Peshitta of these
passages (the translation quoted here), cf. Riad, Preface, 98-9.

r<r>VS^ rCx\i.cLsx>, cf. TrpdypaTa (‘political circumstances’).

The pattern of a prooemium followed by an account of the causes of a war preceding
the narrative of the war itself is the classical one for a political history: cf. Thucydides
1.1-23 and 24-146; Lucian, How to write History 14. Ps.-Joshua holds in the main to
this pattern, but inserts his ‘Chronicle of apostasy and chastisement’ (§§ 25-46) between
his account of the causes of the war and that of the war itself. Cf. above, pp. xiv-xv.

Here begins folio 67 (cf. above, n. 15). The remainder of the sentence, however, is
also written out on folio 66v.

At this point on folio 66v appears the scribal note discussed in the Introduction, pp.
xxiv-xxvi. The criticisms of Anastasius’ policy that ps.-Joshua tries to rebut here and
elsewhere originated in Osrhoene. They were probably a consequence of the
depopulation and damage caused by Kawad’s invasion of 503, and of the hardship

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

[242] In 609 (= 297/8 A.D.) the Romans <plundered>^' the city of
Nisibis, and it was under their control for sixty-five years. After
Julian’s death in Persia in 674 (= 362/3 A.D.), the next Roman emperor
Jovian preferred peace above all else and for this reason ceded control
of Nisibis to the Persians for a hundred and twenty years. It was to be
restored to its masters at the end of this period, which came at the time
of the Roman emperor Zeno, but the Persians did not want to return

the city, and this gave rise to the quarrel.

Furthermore, Romans and Persians had entered into an agreement
that if they had need of each other while at war with another nation,
they would assist by giving either three hundred fighting men along
with their weapons and horses, or three hundred staters for each man.

imposed on the provincials by their having to support upwards of 40-50,000 Roman
soldiers. For a late 4th c. example of this, see below, § 9 (notes). For 6th c. examples,
see F. R. Trombley, ‘War and society in rural Syria’, 172,207.

MS. cu^, ‘built’. Read oua, ‘plundered’ (cf § 48), or cum, ‘took possession of.

After a defeat in 297, Caesar Galerius returned next year with a large army and
defeated the Sasanid king Narsai (293-303), who ceded the seven Transtigritane
satrapies to Rome, including Nisibis. These events are reported in Peter the Patrician,
Frags. 13 and 14, HGM I 431-434. R. C. Blockley, East Roman Foreign Policy.
Formation and Conduct from Diocletian to Anastasias (Leeds, 1992), 5-7. For
chronology: T. D. Barnes, ‘Imperial campaigns, A.D. 285-311’, Phoenix 30 (1976), 182-
186, who suggests that the treaty was concluded in the winter of 298/9 or spring of 299.
He considers the terms of the treaty given in Fr. 14 to be only ‘fragments’ of a longer
list. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, 21 Of., 216-218, etc.

This supposed article in the treaty of 363 is nowhere else attested and is of doubtful
historicity. It appears instead to be a late 5th c. pretext to avoid paying subsidies
popularly seen as ‘tribute’, but the time and place of its invention are difficult to
identify. Cf Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 25.7.11, where the sole condition
attached to the handover is that ‘Nisibis and Singara should pass into Persian hands
without their inhabitants’ («/ Nisibis et Singara sine incolis transirent in iura Persarum).
The population of Nisibis was transferred to Mesopotamia to recolonise Amid, which
Sasanid king Shapur II had taken by assault in 359. M. M. Mango, ‘Nisibis’, ODB^
1488.

There is no record of even one embassy in 483 or thereafter being sent to remind the
Sasanid kings Peroz (459 to early 484) or Balash (484-488), the latter of whom enjoyed
friendly relations with the empire, of their alleged obligation to retrocede Nisibis. But, if
such a clause had existed in the treaty of 363, Zeno might well have avoided raising the
issue in order not to exacerbate the difficulties his ally Balash was having with the magi
and Iranian nobility. Cf below, §§18-19.

TRANSLATION

with the choice being made by the partner in need.^^ Now the Romans,
who had help from God, the Lord of all, had no need of help from the
Persians, for the emperors who reigned from that time until the present

were believers, and their authority held firm by the help of heaven.
The Persian kings, however, would send ambassadors to collect gold
for their needs, but this payment was not made as tribute, as many
supposed it to be.

In our own time the Persian king Peroz received gold on many

[occasions] from the Romans for his wars against the Chionites, i.e.
the Huns. This was not because he could levy tribute (on the
Romans), but because he could provoke them (to pay), on the grounds

that [243] it was on their behalf that he was fighting his battles.
‘(Support me) so that (the Huns) may not cross over into your

It is not immediately clear that this agreement was a clause in the treaty of 299, even
if Peter the Patrician’s list of the terms is incomplete. Cf. R. C. Blockley, East Roman
Foreign Policy, 6f. The story more probably belongs to the 5th c., before the reign of
Peroz (459-early 484). Cf Bury, LRE II I-10. The stater in question (< Pahlavi ster\
the Sasanid tetradrachm, was a multiple variant of the dirham, the basic Sasanid silver
currency. Cf below, § 10 n. 45.

This refers not to the 5th c. emperors’ opinions and policies on Christology, which
were quite diverse, but to the Christian emperors qua Christian, and the perceived
consequences in 363 of Julian’s adhesion to Hellenic religion, viz. his death during the
Roman retreat from Sasanid Mesopotamia and the loss of Nisibis and Singara.

r^cul^. Wright (after Noldeke): probably read or ‘Kushanaye’.

Noldeke, ‘Wright’s edition’, 685-6, subsequently regarded this emendation as uncertain,
noting that ‘Roman subjects of both western tongues [in particular Ammianus 16.9.4 and
17.5.1] and eastern tongues [in particular ps.-Joshua] had only very confused ideas about
these distant barbarians’. Ps.-Joshua is probably here simply referring to the
Hephthalites. Cf Luther, Chronik, 110.

Peroz ruled from 459 to early 484. ‘Perozes’, PLRE II, 860. The Hephthalites
preferred to receive tribute in Sasanid gold dinars (< Middle Persian denar < Latin
denarius aureus). These demands led to the devaluation of the dinar, which fell from 7
g. under Bahram IV (388-399) to 3.5 g. under Peroz; but under his successors it rose
again to 4.2 g. Ph. Gignoux, ‘Dinar i. In pre-Islamic Persia’, Encyclopaedia Iranica
VII412f

The monies were for the defence of Darband (in Arabic Bab al-Abwab,), a fortress
lying east of the Caspian Gates along the western shore of the Caspian Sea. The pass
there is quite narrow, some 3 to 3.5 km. wide. The original long wall, made of mud-
brick (c. 8 m. thick and 16 m. high), dates from the reign of Yazdgard II (438-457). The
Armenians and Albanians wrecked the walls in the rebellion of 450, and a group of
Huns led by a certain Ambazuk occupied Darband during the reign of Peroz. The
massive fortifications there have a terminus post quern after 508. The 25 Middle Persian
inscriptions have a late Sasanid style consistent with the reign of Khusrau I (13 Sept.
531 to Feb. 579). E. Kettenhofen, ‘Darband’, Encyclopaedia Iranica VII 13-19.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

territory’, he said, and the devastation and enslavement they had
inflicted on the Romans in 707 (= 395/6 A.D.) was proof of his point:
at the time of the emperors Honorius and Arcadius, the sons of
Theodosius the Great, all Syria had fallen into their hands through the
deceitful action of Rufinus the hyparch and the weakness of [Addai]
the stratelates

With the help of the gold he was getting from the Romans, Peroz
subdued the Huns, seized many places within their territory, and added
them to his kingdom before he was eventually taken prisoner/^ When
the Roman emperor Zeno heard of this, he sent gold at his own
expense, ransomed him, and made peace between them."*^ Peroz then
made a treaty with the Huns that he would not cross the border into
their territory again to make war, but like Zedekiah he went back on his
agreement, went to war, and like him was delivered into the hands of
his enemies. His entire army was routed and put to flight, and he
himself captured alive.'^'^ Boastfully promising to pay for his life a

The Hunnic raid came in 396. As magister militum per Orientem in 393-396, Addai
was at Edessa to coordinate the defence of Oriens. He was criticised for not having
conducted a mobile defence, instead keeping the troops of Oriens inside the
fortifications of Edessa. The folk memory of these events was still alive during the
Persian War of 502-506. Euphemia and the Goth 4, ed./tr. F. C. Burkitt (London-Oxford,
1913; repr. Amsterdam, 1981), 130f.; ‘Addaeus’, PLRE I 13. Cf the detailed account of
the raid in the entry for 706 {sic) in the Syriac Chronicon Miscellaneum ad annum
Domini 724 pertinens, ed. E. W. Brooks, tr. J. B. Chabot, CSCO Script. Syri 4 (Louvain,
1904), 106. Flavius Rufinus was praetorian prefect of Oriens 392-395. After his death,
all sorts of accusations were thrown at him, including extortion, judicial corruption, sale
of offices and even treason. ‘Flavius Rufinus 18’, PLRE I, 778-781, esp. 780, with list
of sources that elucidate ps.-Joshua’s criticism.

Peroz seems to have received the monies c. 464 and to have destroyed the
Transcaucasian Huns c. 468, in the reign of Leo I (457-474). Cf Bury, LRE 11 7f and n.
5.

Zeno reigned from 9 February 474 to 9 April 491, including a brief period with
coemperor Leo II in 474. Cf ‘FI. Zenon 7’, PLRE II 1200-1202. The story that emperor
Zeno ransomed Peroz after his ‘first’ captivity is nowhere else attested. There may be
something to it. Bury accepts the story, but A. Christensen rejects it as improbable.
Bury, LRE II 10. L’lran sous les sassanides (Copenhagen, 1944), 293, n. 4. Theophanes
puts Peroz’s captivity in 474/5. Chron. AM 5967 (Mango-Scott, 187).

Cf 1 Kings 24: 20-25:7; 2 Chronicles 36:11-17; Jeremiah 52: 1-11.

Theophanes puts this in 474/5. He and Procopius, relying on the same source, give a
different account. They tell of Peroz being cornered by the Hephthalites in a long valley
with no exit, but of then making peace and escaping by a ruse. The magi are said to have
advised him to make proskynesis in front of the khagan facing east at sunrise, feigning
to give him honour, but in reality making obeisance to the rising sun {viz. the visible

TRANSLATION

ransom of thirty mule-loads of drachmas,^^ he sent the order for it back
to his own realm but could hardly muster twenty loads, for by the
previous wars he had completely emptied the royal treasury (inherited
from) his predecessor. In place of the remaining ten loads he gave
them his son Kawad as a pledge and hostage until he should deliver
(the money), and for the second time he made a treaty with them that he
would not make war again.

When he returned to his kingdom, he imposed a poll-tax upon his
entire domain, sent the ten loads of drachmas, and redeemed his son,
but he also gathered an army yet again and went to war."^^ There in fact
the prophetic word found a fulfilment, the one which declares, T saw a
wicked man uplifted like the trees of the forest, but when I passed by

[244] he was not there, and when I sought him I did not find him’.
For when battle was joined and the troops were locked in combat, his
whole army was destroyed, and when he was sought, he could not be
found. To this day it is not known what became of him, whether he
was buried under dead bodies, or threw himself into the sea, or hid in a
cleft in the ground only to perish from hunger, or in a forest only to be
devoured by wild animals."^^

shape of the god Mithra). Wars 1.3.1-22 (Dewing I 12-21); Theophanes, Chron. AM
5967 (Mango-Scott, 188). Ps.-Joshua’s account is rich in pragmatic detail and more
plausible. Peroz had to cede the frontier town Talakan to the Huns. Pace Christensen,
ps.-Joshua does not say that Peroz spent two years in Hephthalite captivity. L 'Iran sous
les sassanicies, 293 and n. 4.

Lit.: ‘coins’. Cf. Glossary, s.v. ‘Drachma’. The basic Sasanid coinage was the dirham.
The dirham (< Middle Persian drahm < Persian derham < Greek Spaxiip) contained c. 4
g. in silver. Peroz is believed to have increased the production of dirhams to pay for the
wars against the Hephthalites, and Kawad even more so because of his wars with the
Roman Empire. The prices of basic commodities named in Pahlavi religious texts are
invariably given in silver coinage. Ph. Gignoux, ‘Dirham i. In Pre-Islamic Persia’,
Encyclopaedia Iranica VII 424-426. Plate XXIX a.-b.

I.e. a capitation tax in coin based on a special census. It was apparently an
extraordinary assessment that was later regularised. The existence of a capitation tax is
mentioned at the time of Kawad’s reforms late in his reign, but little is known of its
prehistory in Peroz’s time. Cf. Z. Rubin, ‘The reforms of Khusro Anushirwan’, in
Cameron, States, Resources, 23If., 240, 243f.

Psalm 37; 35-36.

The battle took place in 484. In it, the Hephthalites destroyed the Sasanid cavalry
when it was lured into riding over a camouflaged ditch. The search for Peroz’s body was
given up when none of the corpses yielded a large pearl that he had customarily worn on
his right ear. Procopius, Wars 1.4 (Dewing I 20-31). Cf. Theophanes, Chron. AM 5968
(Mango-Scott, 189f.), who mistakenly puts the battle in 475/6.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

12 At the time of the said Peroz, the Roman empire was also in turmoil,
for the palace officials hated the emperor Zeno because he was an
Isaurian by birth."^^ Basiliscus rebelled and seized power, but Zeno
subsequently prevailed and re-established his rule.^^ However, because
he had experienced the hatred of many against him, he built for himself
a secure [fortress] in his homeland as a place of refuge should some
[evil] befall him.^^ His [confidant] in this matter was the stratelates of
Antioch, a man by the name of Illus.^^ He also was an Isaurian, for
(Zeno) gave positions of honour and power to all his compatriots and
for this reason was all the more hated by the Romans.

13 When the fortress had been equipped with everything that was
needed, and Ulus had placed in it an immeasurably large amount of
gold, he came to the capital to tell Zeno that his wishes had been
fulfilled, but since Zeno knew that he was treacherous and longed to be
emperor himself, he ordered one of the soldiers to kill him.^"^ Although

For source-based discussion on court politics between 474-488, see E. W. Brooks,
‘The emperor Zenon and the Isaurians’, EHR 30 (1893), 215-238. Cf. Bury, LRE I 389-
402. ‘Isaurians’ were not so much a distinct ethnic group as simply mountaineers living
around the city of Isaura. Their personal names are derived from Luwian, an Indo-
European language whose dialects were once spoken in the Taurus mountains and
Lycaonian plain. SEG 40, no. 1286 == W. D. Burgess, ‘Isaurian names and the ethnic
identity of the Isaurians in Late Antiquity’, World 21 (1990), 109-121.

Basiliscus reigned as a usurper 9 January 475 to late August 476. ‘Basiliscus 2’, PLRE
II 212-214.

Cherris-Papyrios in the Isaurian Taurus mountains (present-day Tschandyr-Kalessi).
The site had originally been called the ‘hill of Papyrios’ from the name of a son of the
brigand Neon, who used it as a lair for raiding eastern Anatolia. John of Antioch, Frag.
206 (Mueller, FHG IV 616f. and notes). On Papyrios’ fortifications, with plans and
photos, see J. Gottwald, ‘Die Kirche und das Schloss Paperon in Kilikisch-Aimenien’,
BZ 36 (1936), 86-100, and see also below, n. 54.

Ulus was consul in 478, magister officiorum and patricius, but not magister militum
per Orientem until 481, several years after these events. Cf. ‘Ulus 1’, PLRE II, 586-90. A
peculiar feature of ps.-Joshua’s nomenclature is his identification of military commands
by the location of their headquarters, as here with Ulus as stratelates of Antioch’. He
was in fact OTpaTqXdxq? rfj? ’AvaroXqs, that is magister militum per Orientem. Ps.-
Joshua does the same with the forces commanded by the duces of the eastern provinces
that fought in the Persian War of 502-506. His phraseology in these instances reflects
common parlance and is devoid of any technical-administrative significance. Cf. below,
nn. 436,458,494,515.

Brooks, ‘Zenon and the Isaurians’, 215f.

Ulus was an unreliable ally. In late 474 to late August 476, he sided with Basiliscus’
rebellion against Zeno. Theophanes, Chron. AM 5967 and 5969 (Mango-Scott, 187f.
and nn.; 191f. and nn.). Later however, in 478/9, Ulus cooperated with Zeno against the

TRANSLATION

(the soldier) commissioned [245] to do this sought an opportunity for
many days to carry it out in secret, he could not find one. He did come
across Ulus inside the palace and drawing his sword raised it to strike
him, but one of the soldiers attached to Illus instantly hit him in the arm
with a dagger, so that the sword fell from his hand and (merely) clipped
Illus’ ear.^^ To conceal his plot against Illus, Zeno immediately ordered
that the soldier be beheaded without appeal, but this only increased
Illus’ suspicion that Zeno had given the order for (his assassination).^^
He left and went down to Antioch, having resolved to take his

vengeance when he should have the opportunity.

Since Zeno was afraid of Illus, aware as he was of his evil
intentions, he sent some notable men to Antioch with the message that
(Illus) should go up to rejoin him as he wished to make an apology. He
alleged that he was not responsible for the treacherous act and that he
had no wish to kill him, but he could not soften Illus’ firm resolve, for
(Illus) despised him (for the attack) and had no intention of obeying the
order to go to him. Eventually Zeno sent another stratelates, whose
name was Leontius, with a force under his command, and ordered him
to bring up (Illus) by force, or to kill him if he resisted.^^ When this
man came to Antioch, he was seduced by Illus’ gold into revealing the
murderous order which he had been given, and when Illus saw that he
had not hidden anything from him, he in turn showed him the large

rebellion of Marcian. Ibid. AM 5971 (Mango-Scott, 195). The new fortress Cherris was
doubtless intended to be more secure than Ourba (probably Olba) where Zeno took
refuge during Basiliscus’ insurgency; see above, n. 51.

This was the third in a series of plots against Illus. It was instigated by empress
Ariadne but this time with Zeno’s tacit consent. The act occurred probably in 481, as
Illus ascended the staircase linking the palace with the hippodrome. Urbicius,
praepositus sacri cubiculi, handled the details of the attempted assassination.
Theophanes, Chron. AM 5972 (Mango-Scott, 196), where the translators give parallel
sources (John Malalas and John of Nikiu).

Theophanes omits this detail. The assassin was a certain Sporakios or Spanikios, one
of the scholarian guards. Ibid.

By the end of 481. Theophanes reports Illus’ excuses for leaving court as feeling ill
from his injury and needing a change of air. The latter began wearing a cap, perhaps to
cover the scar of the wound. Ibid.

This is difficult to reconcile with Illus’ appointment as magister militum per Orientem
in 481, with full authority to appoint duces. Cf. ‘Leontius 17’, PLRE II 670f.

Theophanes erroneously reports that Leontius, magister militum per Thraciamy went
to Antioch with Illus as a subordinate. Chron. AM 5972 (Mango-Scott 196, n. 6).
Brooks, ‘Zenon and the Isaurians’, 224-226.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

amount of gold he had <in> his possession, for which Zeno wanted to
kill him. He persuaded Leontius to conspire and rebel with him, while
pointing out the hatred felt by the Romans towards Zeno, and when
(Leontius) had been persuaded. Ulus felt able to reveal his plan. For
(Ulus) could not have [246] staged a revolt by himself nor personally
have become emperor, since the Romans also hated him on account of
his origin and his inflexible mind.

Leontius was proclaimed emperor in Antioch, but in reality it was
Ulus who was directing events.^^ Some even said that he was planning
to kill Leontius if they defeated Zeno. However, among their followers
there was a sorcerer, a false fellow named Pamprepius, and by his
falsehood he caused all their schemes to collapse and backfire.^^ To
secure their hold on the empire, they sent ambassadors to the Persians,
together with a large quantity of gold, to make an alliance of friendship
with them, to the effect that if^^ military assistance was needed, they
would send it. But when Zeno heard what had happened in Antioch,
he despatched there a large force under one of his stratelatai named
John.^"^

When the adherents of Ulus and Leontius heard that a large force was
approaching, they took fright, while the population of Antioch, fearful
that they could not survive a siege, clamoured for them to leave the city

Leontius was crowned on 19 July 484 according to the astrologer Palchus. Verina
Augusta (the widow of Leo I and a longstanding enemy of Zeno) performed the
ceremony. It did not take place in Antioch as Joshua supposes, but at Tarsus in Cilicia.
He probably confuses the coronation with Ulus’ formal entry into Antioch, whose date
has been amended to 19 July 484. Verina subsequently sent rescripts to the people of
Antioch and all provincial governors in the dioceses of Oriens and Aegyptus, asking all
to recognise Leontius. Theophanes gives an abbreviated version of the text of this
decree. He mistakenly dates most of these events in 481/2. Chron. AM 5973, 5974 and
5976 (Mango-Scott 197f. and n. 5; 198; 199f. and n. 2). Cf. Evagrius, HE 'h.ll (Bidez-
Parmentier 123f), who names Eustathius of Epiphaneia as his source.

Cf R. Asmus, ‘Pamprepios, ein byzantinischer Gelehrter und Staatsmann des 5.
Jahrhundert’, BZ 22 (1913), 320-337. Pamprepius is called ‘sorcerer’ because of his
knowledge of Neoplatonist theurgy. He was executed not long before the suppression of
the rebellion because he had made ‘false prophecies of success’, perhaps by casting
bogus horoscopes. John of Antioch, Frag. 214.10 (Mueller, FHG V 28). Bury, LRE I
398f Cf ‘Pamprepius’, II 825-828.

Wright: ‘them <. . .> or if.

This event is otherwise unknown, and helps explain the relevance of Ulus’ rebellion to
the theme of the background to Anastasius’ Persian war.

John the Scythian replaced Ulus as magister militum per Orientem after the latter’s
rebellion. ‘loannes Scytha 34’, PLRE II, 602f

TRANSLATION

and do battle (outside it), if they could. This greatly alarmed Ulus’
men, and they planned to abandon Antioch and cross over to the east
bank of the Euphrates. (Ulus) sent one of his own men, someone called
Matronianus, with five hundred cavalry to establish an imperial seat for
them at Edessa, but the Edessenes resisted him, closing the city gates,
guarding the wall as is customary in war, and refusing him entrance.^^
When [247] Ulus’ men heard of this, they were forced to do battle
with John, but this was beyond their means, for John hit them hard and
destroyed the bulk of their army, and the remainder all scattered to their
own home towns.^^ Being unable to resist the attack, (the conspirators)
took the remnant of their force and fled to the secure and well-supplied
fortress which I mentioned above. John gave chase but he could not
catch them, so he encamped [...] around the fortress, keeping them
under guard. They allowed the force that was with them to go down,
because they were relying on the (natural) security of the fortress,
leaving only some chosen fighters with them. John vented his anger on
those who came down from the fortress, but he could make no dent in
the group around Ulus. Added to the natural difficulty of access, the
work of (human) hands had made the fortress amazingly secure, with
only one possible way of ascent to it, and that was too narrow for even
two people to go up together.^^ However, after a long period during

Ps.-Joshua relies on local tradition for this event, which is unattested elsewhere.
Theophanes mentions an attempt to get control of Chalcis in Syria I which also seems to
have failed. Chron. AM 5976 (Mango-Scott 199). Cf Brooks, ‘Zenon and the Isaurians’,
227f. The geographical scope of the rebellion was tightly circumscribed right from the
start.

The battle seems to have been fought in the vicinity of Seleucia on the coast of
Isauria. R. C. McCail, ‘P. Gr. Vindob. 29788C: hexameter encomium on an un-named
emperor’, y/ZS* 98 (1978), 54.

See §§ 12-13. Cherris-Papyrios was a small site, and could not accommodate all
Ulus’ partisans. The latter fled to any number of other fortresses, and even caves, in the
mountainous terrain around Cherris. Ulus is known to have controlled a number of such
installations in Isauria as early as 477. The need to reduce these other sites, and the fact
that the Isaurians were well practised in mountain warfare, explains the protracted
fighting between 484-488. For example, Zeno’s brother was liberated from a fortress
somewhere in Isauria in 485. Brooks, ‘Zenon and the Isaurians’, 217f. and n. 50. The
story of the siege of Cherris-Papyrios is told in detail by John of Antioch, Frag. 214.5-12

(FHG IV 620f; V 27f.).

One illegible word.

Ps.-Joshua exaggerates somewhat. He is referring to a stairway cut into the side of the
cliff below the site that passes through a vaulted tunnel for c. 25-30 metres. This piece of

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

which John used up all his ploys, some in Ulus’ grou]^ betrayed their
fellows, and they were overpowered while asleep. By Zeno’s
command both (Ulus and Leontius) were put to death together with
those who had betrayed them, and all those who were with them had
their hands cut off.^^ Such was the strife among the Romans in the time
of Peroz.

Ig After (Peroz) had been sought but not found, as I described above,
his brother Balash reigned over the Persians in his place.He was a
gentle and peace-loving man, who found the Persian treasury empty
[248] and the land ravaged by the Huns.^"^ Doubtless it will not escape
you in your wisdom how much loss and expense is incurred by kings in
war, even in victory, let alone defeat. From the Romans he did not get
the help that his brother had received. He sent envoys to Zeno with a
request for gold, but because (Zeno) was anxious about the war with
Ulus and Leontius, and also because he was aware that the gold which
had been sent by (the two of) them at the start of their rebellion^^ was
still with the Persians, he had no intention of sending him anything
except this message: ‘The taxes of Nisibis which you are getting are

enough for you. For many years they have been due to the Romans.’

19 Balash’s soldiers despised him because he did not have the money to
support them, and the magi also hated him because he was annulling
their laws and wanted to build municipal baths for bathing. When

information is unique to ps.-Joshua. It enabled J. Gottwald to identify the site. Gottwald,
‘Das Schloss Paperon’, 92.

Cherris-Papyrios fell in 488. An additional factor that caused delay in finishing the
siege was the rebellion of Theodoric the Ostrogoth in Thrace in 486-488. Cf P. Heather,
Goths and Romans 332-489 (Oxford, 1991), 304f.; Bury, LRE I 398, n. 4.

The successful siege was the object of a panegyric dedicated to Zeno. Its details are
consistent with the physical setting of the site. McCail, ‘P. Gr. Vindob. 29788C’, 54-56.

See §11.

Balash (also given as Valash) reigned 484 to 488. R. N. Frye, ‘The political history of
Iran under the Sasanians’, CHI III/l, 149. Cf ‘Valas*, PLRE II 1136.

The Hephthalite Huns, as above §§ 9-10.

See §15.

Ps.-Joshua’s supposition that Nisibis should have been retroceded to the Roman
Empire in 483 may be a misconstruction based on statements like this one. See § 7. On
the other hand, it cannot be entirely excluded that Zeno devised this claim during the
critical years of the rebellions of Illus and Theodoric the Ostrogoth as a legalistic
evasion to justify withholding the monies normally sent for the Caucasian defences.

The Vision of Arday Viraz, a Sasanid religious text, considers the act of taking hot
baths to be a sin. The Pahlavi Denkard 8.27.1 seems to have permitted this as long as

TRANSLATION

they saw that the military thought nothing of him, they seized him and

put out his eyes, and raised up in his stead Kawad, the son of Peroz his

brother. We mentioned his name above when he was given as a

pledge to the Huns, and he it is who started the war with the Romans,

because they did not give him gold. He sent an envoy to the emperor

with the gift of a large elephant so that he might send him gold, but

before the envoy reached Syrian Antioch, Zeno died and was succeeded

by Anastasius. When the Persian envoy told his master Kawad about
the change in the Roman empire, he ordered him to go up with
diligence and demand the customary gold, or say to the emperor (if it
was not forthcoming) that he would declare war.

(Kawad) ought to have [expressed] words of salutation and

felicitation to (Anastasius) and to have rejoiced with him at the

inauguration [249] of the sovereignty recently granted him by God.
Instead, by his threatening words he angered the faithful emperor

special precautions were taken to protect the purity of the fire, a representation of the
divinity Ahura Mazda. Christensen, L'Iran sous les sassanides, 54-56^ 296, n. 5.

Kawad reigned 488 to 13 September 531. Cf. ‘Cavades 1’, PLRE II 273f. Cf. below,
§24.

” See §10.

Kawad probably wished to consolidate Sasanid control of the parts round the Caspian
Gates, Albania or Adurbadagan. The foundation of the major cities Bailaqan and
Bardha‘a along the course of the Cyrus and Araxes rivers is attributed to him. V. G.
Lukonin, ‘Political, social and administrative institutions, taxes and trade’, CHI III/2,
683. At this time the locals were descendants of the Germano-Iranian Alans and
particularly the Huns who had begun settling the area in the 5th c. Hereditary
commanders in these provinces bore titles reflecting this demographic fact (Alanshah,
etc.) C. Brunner, ‘Geographical and administrative divisions: settlements and economy’,
CHI III/2, 765.

** Anastasius reigned 11 April 491 to 10 July 518. Kawad needed the gold partly for an
issue of dinars to mark his accession, and partly for his campaigns against the Huns near
the Caspian Gates. Cf. above, § 9, n. 38; Gignoux, ‘Dinar’, Encyclopaedia Iranica VII
412f.

This was customary practice. Blockley, East Roman Foreign Policy^ 88. Such
greetings were certainly sent to Khusrau I after Kawad’s death in 531, although the War
of 527-531 was still in progress. The usual salutations would have been included in the
‘many beguiling words most unbecoming to Roman ambassadors’ spoken to Khusrau
when the Roman envoys reached him. Procopius, Wars 1.22.2 (Dewing I 202f.). Cf. the
dispatch of John son of Comentiolus to Khusrau I in 565 to announce the accession of
Justin II. Menander Protector, Frag. 9 (Blockley, 97).

In this context, the word ‘faithful’, has the sense of ‘Christian’ vis-a-vis the

Zoroastrian faith of the Sasanid monarchy. It was part of imperial titulature. In no sense
does it imply any strongly monophysite theological leanings, as Anastasius’ position on

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

Anastasius, who despised him when he heard his arrogant
pronouncements and learned of his evil ways. (These included) his
restoration of the loathsome magian sect called Zardushtakan,^"^ which
teaches that women belong in common and everyone may have

intercourse with whoever he pleases, and his persecution of the

Armenians under his rule because they would not worship fire.
(Anastasius) sent him no gold, but rather this message: ‘Just like my
predecessor Zeno, I will not send (any gold) until you return Nisibis to
me. For the wars I have with barbarians are not insubstantial: with those
called Germans, those called Blemmyes, and many others. I shall

this did not become a matter of policy until later in his reign. Cf. above, Introduction,
pp. xxvii-xxix, xli.

(read plural), ‘of the Zardushtakane’.

The Pahlavi Denkard identifies the progenitor of this doctrine as Zaradusht Khrosakan
of Fasa, a teacher of the 3rd c. A.D. ‘The fundamental idea behind Zaradusht’s heresy
was that women and property engender envy, anger, hatred, greed and needs which
would not arise if they were held in common ... Women and property should be held in
partnership like water, fire and pasture ...; nobody was allowed to have more than others;
sharing was a religious duty.’ P. Crone, ‘Kavad’s heresy and Mazdak’s revolt’, Iran 29
(1991), 24. Cf. Crone’s critique of the scholarship as to how this system developed into
Mazdakism in the reign of Kawad. Ibid., 21-42, passim.

Lazarus of Pharp’s History of the Armenians treats Peroz’s war against the local quasi-
feudal, clan-based Armenian principalities (naxararut'iwns) in great detail, but goes
down only to c. 489. No historian continued his work in any detail. In consequence,
little is known of the resistance to Kawad’s measures, which began c. 491, to judge
from the sequence of events given by ps.-Joshua. On Peroz and the Armenians, see C.
Sanspeur (tr.), ‘L’Armenie au temps de Peroz (Lazare de Pharpi, Histoire des Armeniens,
III, 60-85. Traduction nouvelle et commentaires)’, REA N.S. 11 (1975-76), 83-172. On
the naxarar system, see Adontz, Armenia in the Period of Justinian, 88f., 183-371.
There was, strictly speaking, no ‘fire-worship’ in Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrians did not
worship fire as a divinity, but only revered it in temples as the image or representation of
Ahura Mazda. The Greek, Syrian and Armenian Christian writers of the period have an
imprecise understanding of this point. We owe this suggestion to Peter Clark. Apart
from this, ps.-Joshua is accurate. Crone, ‘Kavad’s Heresy’, 27 and 39, n. 152.

It is uncertain who these ‘Germans’ were. Huns, referred to as ‘Scythians’ and
‘Bulgars’, invaded lllyricum in 493 and 499. Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle 31f., 108,
110. It is possible that their raiding parties included sizeable numbers of Transdanubian
Germans. Ps.-Joshua is certainly not referring to the Vandals, because Anastasius
continued the ‘endless peace’ with them that his predecessor Zeno had negotiated.

Procopius, 3.7.26-28; 3.8.14.

The pagan Blemmyes of Nubia were probably a Hamitic-speaking people. They
raided the southern limes of Aegyptus down to c. 452, when a hundred-year peace treaty
was concluded with them. The Christian king of the Nobatae, Silko, finally destroyed
their power c. 535, as we learn from an inscription at Talmis. The troubles reported by

TRANSLATION

not neglect the Roman troops in order to support yours.’

When the Armenians under Kawad’s rule heard that the Romans had
not given him a favourable reply, they were emboldened to break down
the fire-temples which had been built by the Persians in their land and
kill the magi in their midst. Kawad despatched a marzban and an
army to punish them and force them to worship fire again, but they
joined battle with him and destroyed him and his army. They sent
envoys to our emperor with the aim of becoming his subjects, but he
did not want to accept them, lest he be thought to be provoking a war
with the Persians.^^ Those who find fault with him for not having given
the gold should therefore blame the one^"* who sought to gain by force
what did not belong to him, for if he had sought it through conciliation
and persuasion, he would have obtained it. However, like Pharaoh he
hardened his resolve^^ and threatened war, while we rely on the justice
of God to [250] punish him even more severely than (Pharaoh) on
account of his foul laws, for he wanted to pervert the law of nature and
destroy the way of the fear of God.

All the Qadishaye^^ who were under his rule also rebelled against

ps.-Joshua (nowhere else attested) reflect a breach of the aforesaid treaty in the 490s.
‘Blemmyes’, ODB, 296f. R. Lipsius, ‘Die griechische Inschrift des nubischen Konigs
^\\ko\ Hermes 10(1876), 129-144. ‘Silco’,PZ.R£ IIIB, 1151f.

Fighting was probably going on at this time in Tripolitania against the Mazices,
former allies who raided the Roman cities there. The dates are uncertain. John of
Antioch, Frag. 216 (Mueller, FHG IV 621). Cf. Jones, LRE, 652.

As quoted here, Anastasius’ words are not a legalistic claim to the retrocession of
Nisibis, but point pragmatically to increased revenues that had accrued since 363 in
Sasanid Arbayistan. The strident tone, including the demand for the return of Nisibis,
was a consequence of Kawad’s failure to extend the traditional honours to the new
emperor and the persecution of the Armenian Christians. The novelty of Anastasius’
demand was soon forgotten and apparently gave rise to the legal fiction that Nisibis’
retrocession was guaranteed by the treaty of 363. Cf. §§ 7, 18 nn. 33, 76.

His predecessor Balash had agreed to let the Christian Armenians destroy the existing
fire-temples.

Marzbans were generally military governors of frontier provinces. On the evidence for
this office, see Ph. Gignoux, ‘L’organisation administrative sasanide: le cas du
marzban\ JSAI 4 (1984), 1-29, esp. 23f.

I.e. Anastasius declined to annex the parts of Persarmenia that were in rebellion
against Kawad.

Viz. Kawad.

Ex. 8: 15, 32, etc.

Kawad settled these folk as colonists near Singara. Their ethnic identity is uncertain. It
has been suggested that they were Kurds or perhaps Iranian mountaineers. Brunner,

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

him, seeking to enter Nisibis and establish one of their own as king in
it; their assault against (the city) lasted for a considerable time. And the
Tamuraye who live in Persian territory also rebelled against him when
they saw that he was giving nothing to them. Their confidence rested
on the high mountains where they lived, from which they would
descend to rob and plunder the surrounding villages and merchants,
both travelling and native, and then return back up. Even the free-bom
men of his kingdom hated him, because he permitted their wives to
commit adultery, while the Tayyaye under him, when they saw the
chaos prevailing in his kingdom, also launched as many marauding
raids as they could through the whole territory of the Persians.^^

Yet another dispute also flared up among the Romans at this time,
since, after Zeno died, the Isaurians wanted to install an emperor
acceptable to themselves and thus rebelled against the emperor
Anastasius. When Kawad heard this, he thought that the time had come
to send his envoys (yet again) to the Romans, for he reckoned that they
would be afraid and would send him the gold on account of the

‘Geographical and administrative divisions’, CHI III/2, 761 f. They are mentioned by
two other Syriac writers around this period. Isaac of Antioch maintains that they adhered
neither to Christianity nor to the Persian state religion; cf. Noldeke, ‘Zwei Volker’, 157-
163. Narsai (ed. A. Mingana, Narsai doctoris Syri homiliae et carmina primo edita
[Mosul, 1905], I, p. 116, lines 13-15, refers to ‘the Qadishaye, relatives of the children
of Hagar, who plundered the world even more than the Ishmaelites ... (and) the
Tamuraye, who truly made Athur [Mosul], the metropolis of the realm, into a desolate
place’. Ps.-Joshua mentions the Tamuraye immediately below as fellow rebels with the
Qadishaye against Kawad, and in § 24 both peoples are reported as submitting to Kawad
and joining the Persian army of invasion. The Tamuraye, presumably an Iranian
mountain tribe, appear to be otherwise mentioned only by Zachariah of Mitylene, H.E.
7.6, as a people continuing to fight against Kawad even after the peace of 506; cf.
Noldeke, loc. cit. 158, n. 4. (The passage from Narsai [ed. 1905] was unknown to
Noldeke [1879] and was brought to our attention by S. Brock.)

On this supposedly Mazdakite practice, see above, § 20, n. 85.

(Tayyaye), Arabs of the tribe of Tayy. The term covers the Lakhmids (see the

following note); it was later extended to Arabs in general.

The Arab rebellion belongs c. 488-499. The earliest Lakhmid king list is found in the
work of the Muslim writer Hisham b. Muhammad ibn al-Kalbi {ob. 820 A.D.). There is a
lacuna between the death of al-Mundhir II {ob. 489?) and the accession of Nu‘man II
(499-503). The gap has not been accounted for. If the period 489-499 was indeed an
interregnum, al-Mundhir II’s ex-clan and tribal clients, with no clear sense of loyalty,
may have taken to raiding Sasanid territory along the middle Euphrates {viz. Arbayistan
and Asuristan). For chronology, see G. Rothstein, Die Dynastic der Lahmiden in al-Hira
(Berlin, 1899), 50f., 69f Cf. CHI III/2, 748 (map).

TRANSLATION

rebellion of the Isaurians.^^^ However the emperor Anastasius sent
word to him, Tf you are asking for a loan, I will send it to you, but if
(your request is made) by reason of the usual agreement,^^^ I will not
neglect the Roman forces, who are involved in heavy battle with the
Isaurians, in order to become a benefactor to the Persians.Thus
Kawad’s intention was frustrated by this, for his plan did not succeed.
The Isaurians were beaten, destroyed, and slaughtered, and all their
cities tom down and burned. The nobles [251] of the Persians secretly
plotted to kill Kawad because of his foul way of life and his perverse
laws, but when this became known to him, he abandoned his kingdom
and took refuge among the Huns with the king with whom he had
grown up when he was a hostage.

His brother Zamashp replaced him as king over the Persians, while
Kawad took as a wife among the Huns the daughter of his sister.
This sister had been carried off captive there in the war in which his
father (Peroz) was killed, and because she was the daughter of a
king, she became a wife of the king of the Huns, who had a daughter by
her. When Kawad fled there, she gave (this daughter) to him as a wife,
and making bold from this family connection to the king, he would
constantly <press>^^^ him for an army to help him go and kill the

The war with th6 Isaurian insurgents broke out because Anastasius succeeded to the
throne (11 April 491) instead of Longinus, Zeno the Isaurian’s brother. The conflict
lasted until 498. Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle 30-32, 107-110. Cf. Brooks, ‘Zenon and
the Isaurians’, 231-237.

I.e. the agreement described in § 8.

Theophanes’ source corroborates Anastasius’ offer of a loan at Chron. AM 5996
(Mango-Scott, 223f.) (with the wrong date). Procopius reverses the story at Wars 1.7.1-
2, with Kawad asking for the loan. The consensus of the chroniclers is decisive against
the latter.

Cf. above, § 10; below, § 24 and nn.

Procopius gives various details about Kawad’s escape from the Prison of Oblivion
and departure for land of the Hephthalites with the help of his first Persian wife. Kawad
took this second Hephthalite wife after his escape. Procopius, Wars 1.6.1-11. Zamashp
(496-498) was technically a usurper and is thus not in the Sasanid king list. Theophanes’
account at Chron.PM 5968 (de Boor I 123; Mango-Scott, 190f.) is mistakenly dated to
475/6 {sic). This, and the last part of his report, with the story about Kawad’s second
Hephthalite wife (de Boor I 123f), belong to 496-498, Kawad’s second stay with the
Hephthalites, during the interregnum under Zamashp (496-498). The report, which
comes from the same source as Procopius, Wars 1.5.1-9 and 6.1-19, is condensed to the
point of mutilation. Both writers confuse Balash {sic) with Zamashp. Cf. above, § 19.
'“see §11.

MS. read ja:;kio9 (Chabot).

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

nobles and re-establish himself in his kingdom. As he requested, he
was given a substantial army by his father-in-law, and he made his way
to Persian territory. His brother fled when he heard of it, and (Kawad)
accomplished his purpose and killed the nobles. He sent a
threatening message to the Tamuraye that if they did not submit to him
voluntarily they would be subjected by force, but if they joined his
army they could invade Roman territory with him, and he would
distribute to them from the booty everything of which they had been
deprived. They yielded to him out of fear of the Hun army, as did the
Qadishaye besieging Nisibis when they heard this. The Tayyaye rallied
to him with great enthusiasm when they learned that he was going to
make war on the Romans, but the Armenians [252] had no desire to
obey him, fearing he would take vengeance on them for having
previously tom down the fire-temples.*^^ He assembled a force and
attacked them, but although he was the stronger, he did not destroy
them, but promised not to force them to worship fire if they would be
allies to him in the war against the Romans. They unwillingly agreed
to this out of fear.

I shall go on to show you in their proper place the things which
Kawad did after crossing the Roman border,***^ but because you also
commanded me to describe in their proper place the signs and
[punishments] which occurred, and to tell you about the locusts, plague,
and scarcity, and because these preceded (Kawad’s invasion), I shall
now direct my account towards them. In order that the narrative may
not become confused, I shall set down the years separately one after
another and describe what happened in each one of them by itself. May
God be my aid, with the help of the prayers of you his elect.

107

Ps.-Joshua telescopes these events, which took place between 496 to 498/9.

Procopius gives a fuller account at Wars 1.6.12-19.

108

It IS possible that Nu‘man II engineered this not long after becoming king of the
Lakhmids. This is consistent with Hisham’s list of the Lakhmid kings, which assigns
Nu‘man a four-year reign (499-503), and the detail that ps.-Joshua supplies here that the
Lakhmids returned to the allegiance of the Sasanid king on the eve of the Persian War of
502-506. Cf Rothstein, Lahmiden in al-Hira, 70.

109

On the rebellions of the Tamuraye, Qadishaye, Tayyaye, and Armenians, see §§21-

22 .

The account of Kawad’s invasion begins at § 48. Formally the present paragraph
may be taken as an epilogue to §§ 7-24 (Pre-history of the War), and the following one
as a prologue to §§ 25-46a (Chronicle of Edessa), but the contents of the two overlap.

TRANSLATION

The year 806 of Alexander (- 494/5 A.D.)

Father (Sergius), I believe I have now told you enough about the 25

cause of the war and how it was provoked, even although in order to
avoid a lengthy account I have made these narratives brief. I found
some of (the information) in old books, some of it I learnt about from
meeting men who had been on embassies with the two sovereigns, and
other things (I discovered) from those who had been present at the
events.But now I wish [253] to tell you about the things which
happened to us, for in this year there began the (series of) heavy
punishments and signs which occurred in our time.

Our whole country^ was encompassed with health at this time, but 26
the diseases and sicknesses of our souls were numerous. Since God
wills that sinners should repent of their sins and be saved, he made our
body like a mirror and completely filled it with sores, so that by our
outside we might see what our inside was like, and by the marks on our
bodies we might learn how foul were the marks on our soul. As all the
people had sinned, they all fell victim to this disease. Swellings and
tumours appeared on all our citizens, and the faces of many became
puffed up and filled with pus, making a fearful sight. Some had sores
or pustules over their whole body, even to the palms of their hands and
the soles of their feet, while others had great fissures on every single
limb. But by the grace of God which protected them, the disease did

Reference to one’s sources of information is a standard topos in the prooemia of
classicising historians, going back to Thucydides; cf. above, pp. xiv-xv. On autopsy,
oral informants, and written texts as sources for late antique historians, cf. Dostalova,
‘Profanhistoriker’, pp. 175-178 and the table on pp. 158-159. Ps.-Joshua omits any
reference to ‘new books’. At first sight, this seems to exclude any use of the historical
work of Eustathius of Epiphaneia, which carried events down to the siege of Amid in
503: ‘The learned chronicler Eustathius composed [a history] about the war; he died
straightaway, without having arranged for its publication to the end.’ John Malalas,
Chronographia, 399, lines 3-5. Malalas used his work and Evagrius cites it six times in
Books II-III, but there is no distinctive correspondence between ps.-Joshua’s reports and
the surviving fragments of Eustathius’ work. Cf. Evagrius, HE 1.19 and 3.37 (Bidez-
Parmentier, 28, lines 12-16; 135f., lines 1-7). But from comparison of ps.-Joshua’s
account of Ulus’ rebellion (above, §§ 13-17) with Evagrius, HE 2>21 (Bidez-Parmentier,
123f), it seems quite clear that Evagrius is summarising a longer account by Eustathius
that had a content similar to ps.-Joshua’s. For texts, see HGM I 353-363 (= FHG IV
138-142). See ‘Eustathius of Epiphaneia 10’, PLRE II 435f. A ‘new book’ ps.-Joshua
could have used was a work by the physician James of Batnan on the famine of 500-502.
It was in circulation by 502/3. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.2 (Hamilton-Brooks, 151).

Martin and Wright emend to ‘body’ for MS.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

not last long with anyone, and no damage or injury was done to the
body. [Although] the marks of the afflictions were (still) evident after
they were restored to health, the necessary bodily functioning of the
limbs was preserved. At this time^*^ in Edessa thirty modii^^ of wheat
were being sold for a denarius ,as were fifty of barley.

The year 807 (= 495/6 A.D.)

On the seventeenth of May this year, when good gifts were liberally
bestowed by heaven upon all, the crops [254] were plentiful by the
bounty (of heaven), the rain came down, and the fruits of the earth grew
in season, the bulk of the citizens cut off hope of salvation to go sinning
in public. Revelling in their delights, they gave no thanks to God for
his gifts, but were negligent in [thanksgiving] and succumbed to the
pestilence of sin. As even the hidden and open sins in which they were
engrossed did not satisfy them, they got ready on this specified date,
which was a Friday night,when a dancer was dancing,’and (this)
<lasted>”^ a period of three days}^^ They lit countless candles in

113

The prices of wheat and barley given here were more or less the standard rates for
times of plenty in Osrhoene. Ps.-Joshua lists them here as a benchmark against which the
high prices of the famine and war years can be measured. Cf. below, §§ 38, 39, 44-46,
87.

The modius castrensis equalled 40 Roman ‘heavy’ pounds {librae) in wheat. E.
Schilbach, Byzantinische Metrologie (Munich, 1970), 77. Cf A. Oxe, ‘Kor und Kab.
Antike Hohlmasse und Gewichte in neuer Beleuchtung’, Bonner Jahrbuch 147 (1942),
167ff

I.e. denarius [aureus], the Syriac term for the Late Roman gold currency, the
solidus. The rate of 30 modii to the solidus is very cheap, suggesting an optimal yield in
the late spring harvest of 495. Jones, LRE, 445f

Barley was used generally for fodder and cheap bread, and is attested as a staple food
in greater Mesopotamia since the 3rd c. A.D. F. M. Heichelheim, ‘Roman Syria’, An
Economic Survey of the Ancient World, ed. T. Frank, IV (Baltimore, 1938), 129. The
Edessan figures agree roughly with those from Egypt, where barley normally sold at half
the price of wheat. Because of different soil conditions and agricultural priorities in
Osrhoene, however, such comparisons have a limited value. Cf R. S. Bagnall, Egypt in
Late Antiquity (Princeton, 1993), 25. For the role of barley in ancient and modem crop
yields, see P. Gamsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World:
Responses to Crisis and Risk (Cambridge, 1988), 10-13, 24f, 32, etc.

* The day of the week is correct. Ginzel, Handbuch der Chronologie, 129-131.

Cf A. Karpozilos, ‘Dance’, ODB, 582.

119

Read? i<..'UDdcno, ‘and it lasted’. MS.: ‘and it was called’.

120

a word unattested in Syriac apart from this passage. The translation offered
here derives it from Greek TpLqpepLa(-v) or TpLqpepov, ‘a period of three days’. It is

TRANSLATION

celebration of this festival, a procedure without precedent in the city,
and arranged them on the ground along the bank of the river*^^ from the
Gate of the Theatre and as far as the Gate of the Arches. The
burning candles were placed on the ground along the riverbank and
hung up in colonnades, the open market-space, the High Street,
and many (other) places. Because of this wicked deed, God performed
a miraculous sign as a warning to them. The symbol of the Cross held
by the statue of the blessed emperor Constantine moved away about a
cubit from the statue’s hand and stayed like this during Friday and
Saturday until the evening. On Sunday it came back by itself close
to its (proper) place, [255] and the statue grasped it in its hand just as it
had previously held it. By this sign the discerning recognised that the

possible that this rare Greek term was employed, rather than the normal Syriac

expression for ‘three days’, in order to avoid any allusion to the New Testament’s ‘three

days’ (Mark 8:31, etc.), and instead to castigate the festival as ‘Greek’, and ps.-Joshua

may have found a way of doing this by alluding to the Septuagint of Amos 4:4. In this

connection, one might note that he employs one expression for candles when used at this

festival, and another when used elsewhere (cf. Glossary, s.v. ‘candle’). Wright made

considerable emendations to the text and translated ‘<at the place> where the dancer

who was named Trimerius was dancing’. The basis of his emendation is a reference to

‘Trimerius a dancer’ in a hymn of Severus of Antioch, cf. E. W. Brooks, The Hymns of

Severus, PO 1 (1911), 717. On this May festival (for which see also §§ 30, 33, 46),

and its connections with the Brytae and the Maiuma, cf. the Introduction, pp. xvi-xvii

and the literature cited there. If this festival is indeed the Edessene version of the

Maiuma and A. Buchler, ‘Une localite enigmatique’. Revue des Etudes Juives 42 (1901),

126, was correct in arguing that the Midrash connected the voluptuous feast of Amos 6 :

1-7 with the Maiuma, an allusion by ps.-Joshua to Amos 4: 4 seems quite possible.

121

The laying of candles ‘along the riverbank’ is the only possible indication in this text
of an aquatic element to the festival, which appears to have been a prominent feature of

the Maiuma and the Brytae.

122

r^, uncertain (‘vaults’ or ‘arches’). On the gates of Edessa and their names, see

Map IV; Segal, Edessa, 185 and Plan I; and Luther, Chronik, 153-156. The Gate of the
Theatre, mentioned only by ps.-Joshua, was presumably in the east wall close to the
point where the Daisan flowed out of the city; the Gate of the Arches was in the west
wall near the entry of the river.

123 » '

dvTL(|)opo9 (the open market place, or a closed market place distinct from the open
forum). On this term see C. Mango, ‘The Life of St. Andrew the Fool reconsidered’,
Rivista di Studi Bizantini e Slave II, Miscellanea A. Pertusi II (Bologna, 1982), 304,
reprinted in Byzantium and its Image (London, 1984), chap. VIII. The Edessene
antiphoros was rebuilt by Justinian following the flood of 520: Procopius, De Aedificiis
2.7.6.

124

r<fivLx jicLx, uncertain; possibly ‘market place’.

125

Levitation stories are unusual in early Christian teratology.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

rite which had been celebrated was far removed from the will of God.
The year 808 (= 496/7 A.D.)

28 This sign from above was not enough to hold us back from
wrongdoing. Indeed, we became even more presumptuous and
readily applied ourselves to sinning. Commoners slandered their
neighbours, nobles became utter sycophants. Envy and deceit held
sway over all of us, adultery and immorality multiplied. The disease of
tumours took a firmer hold on the population, and many in the city
itself and in the (outlying) villages lost their eyesight. The bishop.
Mar Cyrus, was possessed of a proper zeal, so he urged the citizens to
make a silver litter as a mark of reverence for the eucharistic vessels in
which they could be placed when being taken for the service at a
martyr’s commemoration. Everyone gave what he could, but
Eutychianus, the husband of [Aurelia], was the first to show his
generosity and gave a hundred denarii from his own account.

29 Anastasius the governor was relieved and Alexander replaced him at

130

the end of this year. He cleared the mess out of the city’s streets and
got rid of the stalls which had been constructed by tradesmen in the

131 132

colonnades and streets. He also put a wooden box in front of his

196

Of other ‘signs’, the complete solar eclipse seen in Constantinople and Illyricum on
18 April 497 was not visible in Osrhoene. Cf. Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle 31, 109.

The Syriac can mean ‘swellings in the groin’. This differs from John of

Ephesus’ usage, who calls it , ‘the disease of the abscesses’. ‘Paul the

Anchorite’, Lives of the Eastern Saints 6 (Brooks, PO 17, 118, line 8). At first sight, the
disease may have been an early, less lethal variant of the bubonic plague. Blindness is
not, however, associated with its ‘classical’ symptomatology, but only bloody and
swollen eyes. Bubonic plague was first identified by the physician Rufus of Ephesus
(2nd c. A.D.). R. Sallares, The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World (London, 1991),
266f, 466f nn. 375f See also: T. L. Bratton, ‘The Identity of the Plague of Justinian’,
Transactions and Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia^ Series 5, 3
(1981), 113-124, 174-180 {non vidimus); P. Allen, ‘The “Justinianic” plague’, Byzantion
49 (1979), 7. Cf below, § 44, n. 221.

Cyrus, archbishop of Edessa and metropolitan of Osrhoene, 471-498 A.D. On the
‘litter’, cf S. Brock, ‘Some aspects of Greek words in Syriac’, 106-108.

The name is illegible and uncertain.

Anastasius was praeses Osrhoenae in 496-497, Alexander in 497-498. ‘Alexander
14’, and ‘Anastasius 5’, PLRE II 57, 80.

The unauthorised construction of makeshift shops by tradesmen in the colonnades of
the principal urban thoroughfares (the cardo and decumanus) was a constant problem.
Ps.-Joshua is one of the first sources to mention it. By the late 6th c., all regulation
ceased and the problem became endemic. Some commentators see in this the end of the

TRANSLATION

praitorion and made a hole in its lid, and wrote above it that anyone
wishing to make something known, which he could not (do) easily in
public, should put it in writing and drop it inside (the box) without fear.
On this account he learnt many things, for [256] many people wrote
(notes) and put them in it. Every Friday without fail he would sit in the
martyrion of Mar John the Baptist and Mar Addai the Apostle and settle
lawsuits free of charge. [The oppressed] stood up against their
oppressors, the swindled against their swindlers; they brought their
cases before him, and he gave judgement. Uninvestigated cases going
back more than fifty years were brought before him and settled.He
built the walkway by the Gate of the Arches and also began the
construction of the demosion planned years earlier for erection beside

‘Greek’ city and beginning of the ‘oriental’ one, e.g. H. Kennedy, ‘From polis to
madina: urban change in late antique and early Islamic Syria’, Past and Present 106
(1985), 4f.,etc.

132

r^^ctsxo, from the Greek KL^wTog or its diminutive Kipconoy.

133

The church of John the Baptist was built in the archiepiscopate of Nonnus (457-471
A.D.). Chron. Edessenum, anno 769 (Guidi, 7) (version). The double name that ps.-
Joshua gives it reflects the fact that Mar Addai, although not the principal martyr, had a
shrine of his own in the church, perhaps in one of its apses. Addai was the legendary
apostle allegedly sent by Jesus to king Abgar, but it is doubtful whether anyone built a
church in Edessa in the the first century A.D. On the legend of Abgar and Addai, cf. the
references above, n. 22. The church seems to have been near the Roman law courts and
Basilica in the southwestern quadrant of the city. Map IV and Segal, Edessa, Plan I.

^^'‘Alexander may have been reviving an old north Syrian custom in soliciting
anonymous complaints and adjudicating them on Fridays without fees. It may have
continued into the Islamic period at Aleppo. Although it seems at first sight improbable,
the Mongols displayed an identical custom that was possibly acquired from the locals
during their occupation of Syria in 1258-1260 A.D. A mamluk of the Ayyubid amir
reports: ‘When Hulegu camped before Aleppo ... I sought [his] camp. It was part of the
justice of the Mongols that when they made camp in any place, they set up a pole near
the king’s encampment. From the top of the pole a small box was hung with a string,
and around the pole was a guard of the most trusted Mongols. If a man had a complaint
or had suffered an injustice, he would write his grievance in a petition, seal it, and place
it in this box. When Friday came, the king would have the box brought to him and
would open it with a key and thus discover the injustices suffered by people.’ Chronicle
of Qirtay al-‘Izzi Khaznadari (ob. 1333 A.D.), from G. Levi Della Vida, Orientalia,
N.S., 4 (1935), 358-366, in B. Lewis (tr.), Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the
Capture of Constantinople I (Oxford, 1974), 89f. The proof of the argument hinges on
whether the mamluk mistook an Aleppine custom for a Mongol one, and whether all
plaintiffs, whether Arab or Mongol, enjoyed access to the box.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

the com store.He also ordered tradesmen to hang up crosses with

136

five burning torches over their stalls on a Saturday evening.

The year 809 (= 497/8 A.D.)

While this was going on, the time came round again for the festival
at which the pagan myths were chanted, and (this year) the citizens
took even more care over it than usual. For seven days before it they
were going up in a crowd from the theatre in the evening, dressed in
linen tunics. (Their heads) were covered by turbans (phakiolm^^),
their loins free, candles burning in front of them. For the whole night
they burnt incense and held vigils, walking all round the city and
praising the dancer until morning, with singing, shouting, and riotous
behaviour. On this account they also gave up going to prayer, and no
one took any notice of what was proper, but in their arrogance they

Uncertain; is from the Greek atriKou. In this instance, the

planned SrnioaLou (lit. ‘public building’) was a bath-house. Capizzi, L'imperatore
Anastasio, 225.

At first sight, the meaning of the regulation is unclear, and something seems to be
missing from ps.-Joshua’s summary. Unless meant as a form of public piety, it may have
been intended to distinguish Christian shops from those operated by Jews. Jews were
exempt from all forms of public and private business on the Sabbath. Cod. Theod.
16.8.20 (Ravenna, 26 July 412). Cf Cod. lust. 1.9.2, which may go back to Constantine
the Great. On this see A. Linder, The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation (Jerusalem,
1987), 262-267, 367f.

Cf. §§ 27,33,46.

The wearing of linen, a durable product of the flax plant, was a feature of pagan
Greek sacrificial ritual. No sacrifice, particularly an oracular one, could be performed in
a precinct contaminated with animal products like leather and wool. Donning linen on
days when pre-Christian calendar customs were celebrated put the wearer under prima
facie suspicion of violating the increasingly restrictive imperial laws against public and
private sacrifice. Practitioners of sacrifice are attested in the Syrian provinces in the
territoria of Antioch, Baalbek and Edessa in the mid- and later 6th c. Trombley, HRC I
6-35, 72-94; II 134-173, etc.; idem, ‘Religious transition in sixth-century Syria’, 163-
66, 167-182, 193 and n. 183. A ‘small tunic of linen’ is mentioned as a festal garment by
Severus of Antioch, Homily 95, pp. 93-94 [537-538], in his condemnation of a
procession which occurred ‘in pagan fashion’ (durd^iw) at Daphne, which could well be

a celebration of the Maiuma. Cf. Greatrex and Watt, ‘One, two or three feasts?’,
sections (b) and (c; xviii).

reXlixa, (jjaKLoXia, ‘turbans’.

Cf § 27. Pagan incense offerings (turificatio) were banned in Cod. Theod.
16.10.12.2 (Constantinople, 8 November 392). Earlier condemnations of the Maiuma
criticised public behaviour for its want of decorum and ‘impudent licence’. Cod. Theod.
15.6.1-2 (Constantinople, 25 April 396 and 2 October 399). Trombley, HRC I 73.

TRANSLATION

ridiculed the restraint of their parents, saying, ‘They did not know how
to do it like us.’ They said that [257] the city’s inhabitants in earlier
times were dunces and idiots, and thus they became arrogant in their
wickedness. There was no one who would reprimand, reprove, or
advise them, for although Xenaias, the bishop of Mabbug, happened to
be in Edessa (at the time),^"^^ and more than any others he is supposed to
take on himself the labour of teaching, he did not speak with them
about this matter for more than a day. However, God in his mercy
openly revealed to them his concern for them, that they should be kept
back from their evildoing. Two basilikai and the <tepid bathing
room> of the summer demosion fell down, but by the grace of God
no one was hurt right there, although there were many people working
at it, both inside and outside, and none of them lost his life. Two men,
however, were crushed to death at the door of the bathhouse while
fleeing from the sound of the collapse and pulling (the door) back and
forward on opposite sides to turn it. The stones fell on them and they
died as they were wasting time on this argument as to who should get
out first. All discerning people gave thanks to God for having spared
the city a mass mourning, for this demosion had been due to be (open
for) bathing in just a few days time. Even the foundation stones laid
into the ground were uprooted from their places, so (violently) did it
fall.

The writer otherwise known as Philoxenus, who was bom in the second third of the

5th century, attended the School of the Persians in Edessa, was bishop of Mabbug from

485 to 519, and died in exile in 523. The monograph of A. de Halleux, Philoxene de

Mabbog, deals comprehensively with his life, writings, and theology; see pp. 9-12 for

the two versions of his name, and pp. 30, n. 5, and 49, n. 6, for his visits to Edessa

subsequent to his period as a student.

While it is arguable as to how strong a criticism this is of Philoxenus, there is no
doubt that ps.-Joshua does not speak of him in the same warm tone as he uses for
Flavian; cf above, pp. xxvii-xxviii. It is conceivable that the remark is an oblique
criticism of the city of which Philoxenus was bishop, namely Mabbug, rather than
primarily of the man himself The Maiuma probably originated in Syria west of the
Euphrates, and ps.-Joshua may have been pointing the finger at Mabbug, the ancient cult
centre of the Syrian goddess, as the place from which this ‘wicked pagan festival’ came
to Edessa. Cf Greatrex and Watt, ‘One, two or three feasts?’, n. 72. Cf § 46 (and
above, pp. xix-xx) for a case where the author demanded considerable perspicacity of his
readers; this might be another such case.

I j ^

Uncertain, reading r<fd»icuLa MS. Wright: perhaps

‘urinal’, followed by Dolabani.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

The edict of the emperor Anastasius arrived this year, remitting the
gold which tradesmen paid every four years and freeing them from the
tax.^"^"^ This edict did not go only to Edessa, but to all cities of [258] the
Roman domain. The Edessenes’ four-year payment had been one
hundred and forty pounds of gold, and the whole city rejoiced (at its
remission). They all dressed up in white, from the greatest to the
least, and carrying lighted candles and burning censers, to the
accompaniment of psalms and hymns, they went out to the martyrion of
Mar Sergius and Mar Simon, thanking God and praising the emperor.
There they held a eucharist, and on coming back into the city they
extended the feast of joy and pleasure for a whole week, and decreed
that they would celebrate this feast every year. All the tradesmen sat

The chrysargyron or collatio lustralis. The text of Anastasius’ law is found at Cod.
lust. 11.1.1-2 (Krueger, 423). Originally a five-year tax, it was being collected every
fourth year in the 5th c. M. Hendy, Studies in the Byzantine Monetary Economy
(Cambridge, 1985), 647. The tax caused much hardship and popular protest, not least
because of the evident cynicism implied in its name, even when allowing for Libanius’
theatrical remarks at Or. 46.22-23, where taxpayers are said to shudder with dread at the
snarls and near bites of the revenue collectors (whose activities were under the
supervision of the city councillors). Quoted by Jones, LRE, 87If The chrysargyron
was laid on negotiatores or TTpaypareuTaL, anyone who earned his living by buying,
selling or charging fees. Moneylenders and prostitutes were liable to pay, but physicians
and teachers were specifically excluded. Agriculturalists and rural craftsmen were also
exempted. Negotiatores were taxed on tools, animals, slaves and even family members
involved in their business activities. Cf Evagrius’ extended account at HE 3.39 (Bidez-
Parmentier, 136-139). For the provisions of the various enactments, cf Jones, LRE,
43If, 1178f (n. 52).

This came to 10,080 solidi in coin, the only figure we have for the complete
assessment of a Late Roman city. If Jones’ guess is right that the tax often came to c. 1.5
solidi per person over four years, we can estimate the number of negotiatores in Edessa
as some 6-7,000. Jones, LRE, 87If. Hendy, Byzantine Monetary Economy, 175f In
Egypt, where the chrysargyron was collected in monthly or annual instalments, bullion
dealers were near the top of the scale, paying 0.57 solidi per annum or 2.28 solidi in a
four-year period. Our figures for Edessa disagree with BagnalTs, who, in discussing this
section of ps.-Joshua, applies this ‘high’ figure for goldsmiths to negotiatores in Edessa
at large. The assessment of most negotiatores must have been far below that of the
goldsmiths, and the average figure closer to Jones’ 1.5 solidi than BagnalTs 2.28 solidi.
Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquity, 153f and n. 31.

The martyrion was located outside the fortifications northeast of the city on the far
side of the Daisan river. See Map IV and Segal, Edessa, Plan I.

TRANSLATION

around and had a good time, [bathing and] relaxing in the courtyard of

147

the (City) Church and all the city’s colonnades.

The bishop, Mar Cyrus, passed away this year on the fifth of June,
and was replaced by Peter. He added Palm Sunday to the (list of)
yearly festivals,established the practice of consecrating the water on
the night preceding Epiphany, [. . over the oil of anointing on
Thursday (of Holy Week) in front of the whole people, (and so on)
with the rest of the festivals. Alexander the governor was relieved and
replaced by Demosthenes, who ordered all the colonnades of our city to
be whitewashed. Those with much experience were greatly
perturbed by this, saying it was a sign [which pointed] to imminent
things which would happen [in the land].^^"^

Apparently the Great Church, whose location is unknown. Segal puts it near the
acropolis in the southwest quadrant of the fortifications. Edessa, Plan I. In time, it
became associated with the cult of St. Thomas, whose martyrion received a casket for
his relics (yXoiaaoKoiioy) on 22 August 395. Cf Chron. Edessenum, anno 705 (Guidi, 6)
(version).

Peter, archbishop of Edessa, 498-510 A.D.

Cf Severus of Antioch, Homily 125, p. 248/249: ‘For the day of this festival [Palm
Sunday], although not (previously) celebrated by many, is now generally speaking
celebrated by all men, and none of those who have imitated those who have celebrated it
for some time now has rejected it as a new invention’.

Martin: ‘consecrated’; Wright: ‘prayed’, Dolabani: [reuya.-!], ‘paschal

(things)’.

These practices for Epiphany and Holy Week had been instituted not long before this
by Peter the Fuller, patriarch of Antioch (d. 488); cf Theodoros Anagnostes,
Kirchengeschichte, ed. Hansen, 155.17-19.

The new governor served as praeses Osrhoenae in 498-501 A.D. He may be the
same person as FI. Theodorus Petrus Demosthenes, who achieved the consulship and
rose in the civil service to become praefectus praetorio Orientis in 521-522 and 529.
‘Demosthenes 3’ and ‘4’, PLRE II 353f Colonnades were normally left with their
natural marble or limestone surface exposed. It is possible that the measure was taken to
cover the pillars whose stone had been damaged by cuttings and stains during the
erection, use and removal of the shops set up there during the administration of the
previous governor Alexander.

MS. re-.. Read? re.cui».i; Dolabani: ‘symbolising’.

Martin and Wright: Chabot: ‘vox evanida, locus corruptus’ (‘word

disappeared, passage corrupt’).

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

The year 810 (= 498/9 A.D.)

[259] A demonstration of God’s righteousness was manifested to us
at this time, to make us cease our evil way of life.^^^ In May of this
year, on the day when that wicked pagan festival was to be
celebrated, a multitude of locusts came into our country from the

157 •

south. They did us no damage or harm this year, merely laying a
substantial number of eggs in our country, but when the eggs had been
laid in the ground, there were dreadful tremors in the earth. These
clearly happened to arouse the people out of their sinful torpor, so that
they might be spared the chastisement of famine and plague.

In August of this year the edict of the emperor Anastasius arrived
<abolishing> animal combats in the cities of the Roman empire.
Then in September there came a powerful quake, and a mighty sound
from heaven was heard over the whole earth.The earth was shaken
to its foundations at this sound, and all villages and towns heard the
sound and felt the quake. Bad news and distressing tidings came to us
from all directions. Some said an amazing sign had been seen in the
river Euphrates and the warm waters of Abame, for the flow from their
springs had stopped on that day.*^^ I would not assume this to be false,
because frequently when the earth is tom by quakes, it happens that the
waters flowing in the fissured places are held back from their (normal)

The Chinese annals report the appearance of a comet sometime between 29
November and 28 December 498. Such a ‘sign’ would have been grist for ps.-Joshua’s
mill, but it goes unreported. It was first seen in the constellation of Leo in the west,
moved to Cancer, and finally reached the Milky Way. We owe this suggestion to Prof. F.
Richard Stephenson. Cf. Ho Peng Yoke, ‘Ancient and mediaeval comets’, 164. It should
have been visible at Edessa’s latitude. Cf B. Croke, ‘Comets’, ODB, 486.

Cf. §§ 27,30,46.

157

The Syriac life of Rabban Bar-‘Idta mentions a plague of locusts around Marga and
Nineveh c. 591-595. It is said to have come up from the ‘lower regions’, suggesting a
regular migration route from lower or central Mesopotamia. The Histories of Rabban
Hormizd the Persian and Rabban Bar- Tdta 22 (Budge, 227f).

^O^CUJ, KUVTiyLOV.

159

Anastasius’ edict was evidently little more than a recapitulation of the basic law
found at Cod. Theod. 15.11.1 (414 A.D.). It was therefore not repeated at Cod. lust.
11.35.1 (Krueger, 440).

Cf B. Croke, ‘Earthquakes’, ODB^ 669f

Abame or Abarme (from the Iranian Abgarme, present-day Tchermik), a place of
sulphurous hot springs lay 60 km. WNW. of Amid in Mesopotamia. A monastery
existed there in the 6th c. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, 93, 110. Fig. XVII. Cf
Chron. Edessenum, anno 810 (Guidi, 8).

TRANSLATION

course and sometimes even diverted to another place. The blessed
David [260] reveals that this occurs, when in the eighteenth Psalm he
talks about the punishments which came from God upon his enemies by
earthquake, rending of mountains, and other similar things, for he said:
‘The springs of the seas were revealed, and the foundations of the earth
laid bare at your rebuke, O Lord’. In this month there also came a
letter, which was read to the whole church, (informing us) that the city
of Nicopolis had fallen down suddenly in the middle of the night,
burying all its inhabitants. Some visitors who were there, and some
brothers from our schools who were travelling that way and happened
to be in its midst, were also buried there. Their companions who came
(back alive) told us (about it). The entire wall encircling the city and
everything inside it was flattened that night, and no one survived except
the bishop of the city and two other men who were sleeping behind the
apse of the altar of the church. When the ceiling collapsed of the
house in which they were sleeping, one end of the beams was held up
by the wall of the altar, and so it did not bury them. This is what a
certain truthful brother told me.*^^ ‘On the evening of the night when it
fell down, a colleague and I were bedding down inside (the city), but he
was agitated and said to me, “Come, let us go and spend the night
outside the city in a cave as is our custom, because I cannot stay here
since the air is too oppressive for me to get any sleep.” So we rose,
went outside the city, and stayed the night in a cave as is our custom.
At dawn I woke up the brother with me and said to him, “Get up, for
the dawn has come, and let us go into the city and do our business.”
We got up, went to the city, and discovered [261] all its buildings
demolished and the people, domestic animals, oxen, and camels buried
in it. The sound of their groaning emerged from deep inside the earth.

Psalm 18 : 15 (16). Cf. verse 7 (8).

Luther, Chronik, 169f., suggests that the Nicopolis in question was the one in
Armenia I because of known seismic activity there around this time, when an earthquake
wrecked most of Neocaesarea (Pontus Polemoniacus), but left the church of St. Gregory
Thaumaturgus standing. Theophanes, Chron. AM 5995 (Mango-Scott, 223) gives 502/3
as the date, but a year or two should be subtracted from most of his entries in this part of
his chronicle. Cf. ‘Nikopolis’, PECS, 626, where the town in Euphratesia is suggested.
The site cannot possibly be Nicopolis-Emmaus in Palaestina I, as Wright suggests.
Chronicle of Joshua, transl. p. 24.

Cf Chron. Edessenum, anno 810 (Guidi, 8) (version), where the gist is given of ps.-
Joshua’s report up to this point.

The ‘truthful brother’ was a cave-dwelling hermit who lived outside Nicopolis.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

Those who congregated there extricated the bishop from under the
beams of the [church] by which he had been protected, and he sought
bread and wine to celebrate the mysteries. Because the whole city had
been flattened, nothing had survived in it, but a chance passer-by, a
good man, gave him a little bread and wine. So he celebrated the
eucharist and prayed, and gave to those who were there communion in
the mystery of salvation. It seemed to me that at that moment he was
like the righteous Lot as he fled from Sodom.So much (for the
brother’s story).

35 Furthermore, up north there was a martyrion called Arsamosata,
which had been strongly built and beautifully decorated. Every year
on the day on which occurred the commemoration of the saint<s> who
<were> placed in it, a multitude would gather there from all around,
some for prayer, others for business. Many supplies, in fact, were
brought in for the people assembled in that company. When there was
a great crowd there, of men, women, and children, and of all ages and
ranks, terrifying lightning and violent thunder broke out, and the
rumblings of a quake. All the people fled to the martyrion to take [262]
refuge with the bones of the saints, but while they remained there in
great fear and were praying and worshipping in the middle of the night,
the martyrion collapsed and the majority of those inside were crushed
beneath it. This happened on the same day as the fall of Nicopolis.

The year 811 (= 499/500 A.D.)

36 None of us gave up his evil ways on account of all these quakes and
disasters. Because our country and our city continued to have no
excuse, since we, later on, were being reserved for chastisement, and
because far-away news did not alarm us, an incurable blow struck us.
Let us therefore acknowledge the righteousness of God and proclaim,
‘The Lord is righteous and his judgements wholly upright’,for in his
patience he still desired by signs and wonders to turn us back from our

Cf. Genesis 19.

167

In Sophene (later Armenia IV) south of the Arsanias river, a tributary of the
Euphrates. The name of the town is here confused with that of the confessor buried in

the church. Cf. C. Foss, ‘Arsamosata’, ODB, 186f

168

On the institutional origins of the Anatolian and Armenian martyr festival, see S.
Vryonis, ‘The panegyris of the Byzantine saint: a study in the nature of a medieval
institution, its origins and fate’, Sobornost Supplement 5 (1981), 196-226, esp. 209f.
“’Psalmn9: 137.

TRANSLATION

170

evil ways. On the twenty-third of October of this year, a Saturday,
the sun was dispossessed of its light at dawn and its optical disc became
like silver. It was without its visible rays and our eyes could easily look
at it without difficulty, for it had no brilliance, splendour, or radiance to
prevent them gazing at it. It was as easy for us to look at it as it is to
look at the moon, and it remained like this till towards the eighth hour,
while the ground illumined by this feeble twilight resembled a covering
of ashes or sulphur.On the same day another terrible and terrifying
sign occurred, (this time) on the city wall, and (so) this (city), <which>
on account of the faith of its king^^^ [263] and the righteousness of its
inhabitants in former times had been considered worthy to receive a
blessing from our Lord, came near to swallowing up its contemporary
inhabitants because of the magnitude of their sins. A gap appeared in
the wall on the south side towards the Great Gate, and some of the
stones from (that) place were scattered a considerable distance from it.
On the order of the bishop, our father Mar Peter, intercessions were
made and everyone sought mercy from God. He took charge of all his
clergy and the whole covenant (community),^^^ men and women, and

The day of the week is correct. Cf. Ginzel’s tables, Handbuch der Chronologic, 129f.

Viz. the sky was covered with thin grey cloud or dust that admitted just enough light
for the observer to see the disc of the sun. D. Schove and A. Fletcher, Chronology of
Eclipses and Comets AD 1-JOOO (Suffolk, 1984), 84-86, 261. The ash precipitate
suggests a volcanic eruption, great forest fire or dust storm. The duration of the
phenomenon alone, eight hours, is a strong argument for its not having been a solar
eclipse. Ibid., xxi-xxvi. Figs. 10-11. None is reported for October 499 anywhere near the
Mediterranean or its hinterlands. Grumel, Chronologic, 460 (who uses the Martin
edition of ps.-Joshua). Cf. the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on 6 November 472, which
showered burning cinders on Constantinople; dust is said to have accumulated on roof¬
tops to a depth of several inches, and litanies were performed. Theophanes, Chron. AM
5966 (Mango-Scott, 186f.). Debris from the eruption fell all over Europe. Marcellinus
Comes, Chronicle 25, 99. Volcanic ash found in Iceland and dated to the 5th c. seems to
have come from this event. Schove-Fletcher, Eclipses and Comets, 321, 327. The eclipse
seen at Seert in Sasanid Arbayistan on 2 June 500 (‘in the tenth regnal year of
Anastasius’) cannot have been the same event as the one at Edessa. As the towns are c.
250 km. apart, total darkness (‘totality’) would not have affected both sites unless they
both lay along the centre of the path of the eclipse. Histoire Nestorienne (Chronique de
Seert), seconde partie (I) 10 (Scher, PO 1, 119). For a different view, see Luther,
Chronik, 171. Cf. D. Pingree et alii., ‘Eclipses’, ODB, 67If.

Abgar. Cf. above, § 5.

rtowi oAa. In addition to clergy and laity (and monks), early Syriac literature refers

to people called ‘children of the covenant’ {bnay qyama). The exact contours of this
group are still uncertain, but it was evidently characterised by an ascetic spirituality.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

all the (lay) members of the church, both rich and poor, men, women,
and children. They went through all the streets of the city, bearing
crosses (and singing) psalms and hymns, (dressed) in the black
garments of penitence, while all the monasteries in our country also
kept up their services with great diligence. By the prayers of all the
saints the light of the sun was restored to its place, and we received a
little consolation.

In November we saw three signs in the midday sky. One of them, in

1 HA

the middle of the sky on the south, was coloured like a rainbow, but
it faced up (rather than down), that is, [its curvature] was downwards
with its ends at the top. There was also one in the east and another in
the west. We also saw another sign in January, (this time) due south¬
west, which looked like a spear. Some people said it was a broom of
destruction, others a spear of war.^^^

Recent discussions of the institution include G. Nedungatt, ‘The covenanters of the early
Syriac-speaking church’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica 39 (1973), 191-215, 419-444;
M.-J. Pierre, Aphraate le sage persan: exposes. Sources chretiennes 349 (Paris, 1988),
98-107, with bibliography 21-22; S. Abou Zayd, Ihidayutha: A Study of the Life of
Singleness in the Syrian Orient (Oxford, 1993), 59-107; and S. H. Griffith, ‘Monks,
“Singles”, and the “Sons of the Covenant” ’, in E. Carr et al., Eulogema: Studies in
Honor of R. Taft (Studia Anselmiana 110) (Rome, 1993), 141-160. Griffith highlights
the problem of translating the term into a modem language, and paraphrases (p. 159): ‘a
group of people belonging to a certain “station in life” in the community that ... they
assumed by “covenant” at Baptism.’ Cf. also § 100.

174

Literally: ‘the bow that occurs in the clouds’.

175

These ‘signs’ were evidently clouds or halo phenomena. On cloud divination, pagan
and Christian, see: Trombley, HRC I 47f. and n. Cf. Chron. Edessenum, anno 810
(Guidi, 8) (version), with less detail.

176

January 500. This was evidently a comet. Grumel, Chronologie, 470. There is a
difficulty with the date. The Chinese annals report a comet on 13 February 501 whose
great length may have given it the configuration of a ‘spear’: ‘During the 11th month of
the third year of Tung-Hun-Hou a (chhang-hsing) comet was seen stretching across the
heavens.’ Ho Peng Yoke, ‘Ancient and mediaeval comets’, 164. The compass direction
of the Chinese comet is unfortunately not given, but it should have been visible at
Edessa’s latitude. If 13 February 501 is the correct date for ps.-Joshua’s comet, it would
have appeared in the midst of the famine at Edessa {viz. when more than 100 bodies per
day were being carried from the city). Below, § 43. It is possible that ps.-Joshua put it a
year and a month earlier because he preferred to remember it as a ‘portent’ rather than an
accompanying circumstance of the famine. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that
the comet in question was not, on the whole, an important one. Cf. Schove-Fletcher,
Eclipses and Comets, 285, 291, where it is given an importance of 4 (‘noted by some
chroniclers’) on a scale of 1 (‘noted only by experienced sky-watchers’) to 9 (‘created
terror; remembered for many generations’). Thus, the comet gets most of its importance

TRANSLATION

Up to this point we had been punished (merely) by (bad) news and
signs, [264] but from here on who can describe the suffering which
beset our country from all sides? In March of this year the locusts
came at us from out of the ground in such numbers that we imagined
that not only the eggs in the ground had hatched against us, but that
as it were the air was belching them forth against us, and they were
coming down from heaven upon us. When they could (only) crawl,
they devoured and laid waste the entire ‘Arab^^^ and the territories of
the people of Resh‘aina, Telia, and Edessa, but when they could fly,
their range was from the border of Assyria to the Mediterranean, and

from how ps.-Joshua interprets it. Great comets are frequently reported in the shape of
spears, as for example the one that preceded the Muslim conquest of the Near East in
634: ‘At this time something like the lance (ar-rumh) appeared in the sky [extending]
from south to north. Then it extended from east to west. And it stayed in this manner for
thirty-five nights.’ Chronique de Seert, seconde partie (II) (Scher, PO 13, 580) (no
month given). There is a clear correspondence between this and the description given of
the same comet by the Japanese annals. It appeared twice in 634/5: ‘During the eighth
month of the sixth year of Jomei-tenno [29th August to 27th September approx.] a
(chhang-hsing) comet was seen at the south. During the first month of the seventh year
[24th January to 22nd February, approx.] the (hui) comet turned round and appeared at
the E.’ Ho Peng Yoke, ‘Ancient and mediaeval comets’, 168. It is considered to have
been a more important comet (‘noted by most chroniclers’) than the one of 500/1.
Schove-Fletcher, Eclipses and Comets, 285, 293.

For what follows, cf. Chron. Edessenum, anno 811 (Guidi, 8) (version).

Cf. above, § 33.

’’’ Locust plagues were rare but destructive. The great locust plague of 125-124 B.C. in
the territoria of Carthage and Utica in Africa is said to have cost 200,000 lives. Gamsey,
Famine and Food Supply, 25. There was a five-year locust plague, with drought, in
Roman territory during the reign of Justin I (518-527). Chronique de Seert, seconde
partie (I) 10, 18, 20 (Scher, PO 1, 119; 134; 140). The chronicle of Seert mentions its
ravages only in Roman territory, as for example in Tur ‘Abdin. CHI III/2, 748 (map). In
the great locust plague of c. 591-595 around Marga and Nineveh in Sasanid Arbayistan,
the locusts are said to have destroyed crops, plants, fruit trees, forest trees and every
green herb. The insects also fouled springs, fountains and wells, evidently with their
bloated bodies, thereby ruining water supplies. Life of Rabban Bar- ‘Idta 22 (Budge,
221 ).

‘Arab appears to be employed by this author specifically of the area around and to
the east of Telia and Amid. Cf. §§50 and 90 and H. Pognon, Inscriptions semitiques de
la Syrie, de la Mesopotamia et de la region de Mossoul (Paris, 1907), pp. 34-35;
Dillemann, Haute Mespotamie, pp. 75-78 and Fig. X (whose ‘Gamer ‘Arab’ is a
misunderstanding of ‘laid waste the ‘Arab’).

Probably Arabayistan, the Sasanid province adjoining the ‘Arab. The locust plague
thus seems not to have affected the territoria of the Persian towns like Bezabhde,
Nisibis, Peroz-Shapur and Singara.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

1 QO

on the north they went up to the border of the territory of the Ortaye.
They devoured and ravaged these regions, consuming everything in
them, so that even before the war broke out, we could see with our
(own) eyes what was said about the Babylonian: ‘Before him the land is
like the garden of Eden, behind him a wasted wilderness’.If the
command of the Lord had not hindered them,^^"^ they would have
devoured people and cattle, as we heard that they did in one village
where some people put down a small child in a field while doing then-
work. Before they had gone from end to end of the field, (the locusts)
sprung on him and put an end to his life. As soon as (we were in) April,
there began to be a shortage of com and everything else, and four modii
of wheat were being sold for a denarius In June and July the
inhabitants of these regions had to use their wits to keep alive. They
sowed millet (in the hope) that it would meet their need, but it was
insufficient for them because it did not flourish. By the end of the
year misery surrounded the people as a result of famine and they were
selling [265] their possessions for half their value, whether cattle or
oxen, sheep or pigs.^^^ Because the locusts had consumed the entire
crop, leaving no food or nourishment for people or animals, many left
their own districts and moved to other regions of the north and west.
The infirm in the villages, along with the elderly and the young, women

182

One of the peoples of Anzitene, the Armenian satrapy later incorporated with
Sophene to form Armenia IV in 530; cf. Noldeke, ‘Zwei Volker’, 163-165.

Joel 2 : 3.

Ps.-Joshua mentions nothing of litanies, magic circles or other apotropaic devices to
counteract the descent of these creatures. In contrast, during the locust plague of c. 591-
595 in Sasanid Arbayistan, the insects are said to have obeyed the holy man Nisanaya
and to have left his vegetable garden. Life of Rabban Bar-Ldta 19 (Budge, 223). Cf.
Trombley,///?C II 187.

185

Four modii to the solidus (= Syriac denarius [aureus]) was a famine rate, and is the
dearest cited in Jones, LRE, 445f. Cf. Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 183f.; B. Croke, ‘Famine’,

ODB, lilt

186

In c. 591-595, the people of Sasanid Arbayistan also used their wits to avert
starvation; they collected, dried and cooked the locusts, and even stored them up for
food. Bar ‘Idta directed his monks to do the same. Life of Rabban Bar- ‘Idta 22 (Budge,
227f.).

187

Other crops may have been sown as well. For example, in 591-595, the Syrians of
Arbayistan planted millet, but also sowed summer peas, cucumbers, watermelons and
‘other small vegetables’. Life of Rabban Bar-‘Idta 22 (Budge, 227f.). Cf. Heichelheim,
‘Syria’, 133.

*** Cf. Heichelheim ‘Syria’, 155f. for pre-4th c. livestock prices.

TRANSLATION

and children, and those racked by hunger who were unable to walk to
distant areas, went into the cities to live by begging. Many villages and
hamlets were emptied of people, but (the people) did not [escape]
punishment, not even those who went to distant regions. What is
written of the Israelite people, ‘Wherever they went out, the hand of the
Lord was against them for evil’,^^^ similarly applied to them. The
pestilence overtook them in the districts to which they had gone, and
death also followed those who went into Edessa. I shall shortly give
an account of that as best I can, but no one, in my opinion, can describe
it as it (really) was.

I will now tell you about the scarcity, as you asked me. I did not
want to write anything about it, but I will force myself (to do so), so
that you should not think I have ignored your command. Wheat was
being sold at this time at four modii a denarius, barley at six; a kab of
chickpeas cost five hundred nummC^^ a kab of beans four hundred
nummi, and a kab of lentils three hundred and sixty nummi}^^ Meat

The Syrian church of Sasanid Arbayistan showed more effective crisis management
during the locust plague of c. 591-595. When the monks at Bar Tdta’s monastery
became disgusted with their diet of roasted locusts and asked to migrate to localities
where bread could be found, Bar-Tdta used apocalyptic arguments drawn from the Old
Testament, as for example: ‘And Isaac in like manner suffered loss when he went down
to Abimelech of Philistia’. When the monks relented, the Christian landowner
Zandhaprokh is said to have given the monastery 1000 Sasanid silver staters and three
camels to help buy food, which Bar-‘Idta then procured in Media, Huzaye and the
territorium of Nisibis. Additional supplies came as gifts from Mar Abba, metropolitan of
Nisibis (who also supplied two mules), from the rich Christian landowner Malbed of the
village of Barzane/Shahar-Sa‘ar and from the free men of Beth Ghurbaq. Life of Rabban
Bar-‘Idta 11, 22 (Budge, 214-16; 228-30).

Judges 2 : 15

The onset of pestilence is also reported as a result of the locust plague of c. 591-595
in Sasanid Arbayistan. Various ‘sicknesses, and boils, and burning sores’ were thought
to affect people who ate too much after once having suffered starvation. Life of Rabban
Bar- Ldta 22 (Budge, 232).

The term is derived from Hebrew. A Syro-Palestinian unit of weight, one kab
equalled 5 Roman ‘heavy’ pounds (librae). Schilbach, Byzantinische Metrologie, 76. It
indicates a dry measure of approximately 2 litres.

Equivalent to twelve and a half folles. Between 498-511 the nummus was tariffed at
c. 16,800 to the solidus. Hendy, Byzantine Monetary Economy, 478.

Forty nummi were equivalent to one follis. These were prevailing rates toward the
end of the indiction in late summer. Beans, chickpeas and lentils (ct)aKTi) were common
products in Mesopotamia. Cf. SEG 7, no. 437 = Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 130. In Egypt,
these legumes sold at roughly the same price as barley. Cf. Bagnall, Egypt in Late
Antiquity, 25f. Olives were seldom grown for export in Mesopotamia because of their

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

was still not expensive, but as time went on the scarcity increased and
the affliction [266] of hunger intensified upon the people. Inedible
items - clothes, and household implements and furniture - became
cheap, as things (other than food) were being sold for half or a third of
their value, but were (still) inadequate to sustain their owners because
of the increasing shortage of bread. Our father Mar Peter went to the
emperor at this time to urge him to waive the synteleia,^^^ but the
governor got hold of the village landowners, put them under great
pressure, and required them (to pay up). While the bishop was still
(trying to) persuade the emperor, the gold was sent by the governor to
the capital. When the emperor saw that the gold had arrived, he did

inferior quality, but must have been produced for a regional market. In the 520’s, the
monastery of Addai the chorepiskopos exported much wine, but had to buy its olive oil.
John of Ephesus, ‘Addai the chorepiskopos\ Lives of the Eastern Saints 8 {PO 17,
129f.) The absence of oil in ps.-Joshua’s figures may reflect a trifling oil surplus in
storage, a consequence of the fact that the olive was not a well developed cash crop in
Osrhoene. It is otherwise difficult to explain the level of starvation at the height of the
famine. Olive oil turns up occasionally in the inscriptions in the House of Archives at
Dura Europus (3rd c. A.D.). Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 136f, 184f = SEG 7, nos. 413, 414,
415. Cf. Jones, LREy 446f Cf the asymmetrical example of the famine at Clazomenae
(4th c. B.C.), where citizens lent their stored oil to the city-state at interest and ‘the oil
was exported to buy grain’. Gamsey, Famine and Food Supplyy 71 f Oil was, of course,
used in Syrian monastic liturgies. ‘Rules of Rabbula for the Monks’, Canon 7, in
Vddbus, Syriac and Arabic DocumentSy 28.

The slow rise in the price of meat was a consequence of the market being flooded
with large numbers of animals for sale. A Palestinian rabbinic document of c. 350 puts
the price of a pound {litrd) of meat at 2 folles. Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 185. These bronze
coins had much less value than the folles of the Anastasian bronze coinage reform of
498. In 6th c. Egypt, 120 lb. of meat to the solidus was considered quite high. P.Oxy.
1920. Cited in Jones, LREy 446. On the fluctuating value of the bronze currency, see J.
Durliat, ‘La valeur relative de Tor, de I’argent et du cuivre dans I’empire protobyzantine
(IVe-VIIIe siecle)’. Revue numismatiquey serie 6, 22 (1980), 138-154. See below, n.
199.

For scattered examples of clothing prices, see Jones, LREy 447f. Cf Heichelheim
‘Syria’, 186f, where prices at Dura Europus are given in devalued silver denarii c. 234-
240 A.D. For Egypt, there is sundry evidence on clothing and furniture in Bagnall,
E^pt in Late Antiquityy 33f, 43.

Payment of the land and capitation taxes (whose combined payment is here called
the synteleia) was made in coin by the later 5th c. Cf Jones, LRE 460 and 1196f, n.
120, with extracts from Cod. lust. 10.27.1-2.

198

The annual tax assessment varied according to the needs of the central
administration. Cf Jones, LREy 452-456. Data are usually lacking to estimate the
average tax burden on private citizens except for provinces in the diocese of Aegyptus.
Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquityy 153-160. The tribute imposed by the Muslim Arabs on

TRANSLATION

not want to let go of it, but so as not to dismiss our father empty-
handed, he remitted two folles to the villagers and the prices which

they were paying,and released the citizens from the duty to draw

201

water for Roman (soldiers).

The governor himself then went to the emperor, still wearing his
sword (of office), and left Eusebius holding his position and governing
the city.^®^ When Eusebius saw that the bakers could not make enough
bread for the market, on account of the mass of villagers now filling up
the city, he decreed for the sake of the needy who were without bread
in their houses that everyone who so wished could make bread and sell
it in the market. He released wheat from the store to some Jewish

Osrhoene at the time of the conquest in 639 reflects the taxation of the previous decade
under the Byzantine administration, and is suggestive of the broader fiscal pattern. The
Late Roman land and capitation taxes (annona and capitatio) were consolidated into the
Muslim jizya as a single levy, coming to 1 solidus, 2 modii of wheat, 2 gist of oil, and
2 gist of vinegar per person. Ya‘qub b. Ibrahim Abu Yusuf, Kitab aUKharaj (Cairo,
1962-63), 39-41, cited from Lewis, Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture
of Constantinople, I 231. Cf. Muhammad b. al-Hasan Shaybani, Kitab al-Asl in The
Islamic Law of Nations: Shaybani's Siyar, tr. M. Khadduri (Baltimore, 1966), 143 and
nn. 6-8.

Anastasius’ coinage reform saw the issue of the new bronze follis in 498. It was
probably tariffed at around 420 folles to the solidus. The second phase of the reform in
512 saw the value of the enlarged follis increase to 210 to the solidus. Hendy, Byzantine
Monetary Economy, 477f. Two folles were, in themselves, a miserly return for crop
losses, unless other compensation was forthcoming. The dole was intended for all cities
and their territoria in the civil province of Osrhoene. The attractive new folles were
good propaganda for emperor’s policies. Ibid., Plate 14, nos. 1-4. The measure left
dissatisfied speculators in Constantinople who had previously taken advantage of the
unstable tariff between gold and bronze coinage. Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle 32, 110.

Meaning obscure, text apparently deficient.

One of the many types of forced labour {munera sordida or ayyapetai, viz. corvees)
imposed on agriculturalists. It does not appear in A. H. M. Jones’ list. Other examples of
this practice include providing animals for the imperial post, offering lodging to public
officials and soldiers in transit, milling grain and baking soldiers’ bread. Cf. Jones, LRE,
45 If. Cf. G. E. M. de Ste. Croix, The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World from
the Archaic Age to the Arab Conguest (London, 1981), 14-16 and 539f., n. 8; B. Isaac,
The Limits of Empire. The Roman Army in the East (Oxford, 1992), 291-297.

I.e. in mid- to late summer, when the praetorian prefects submitted estimates of the
tax requirements for the new indiction beginning on 1 September. Jones, LRE, 449-451.
‘Eusebius 21’,PIR£ II 431.

The bakers were an urban guild {collegium or ouoTTipa) strictly regulated by the
urban magistrates or provincial governor and normally enjoying a monopoly. As the
metropolis of Osrhoene, Edessa was subject to the direct decree of the latter. Cf. Jones,
LRE, 735, 859f.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

women who came (to him), and they made bread for the market, but
even so the poor still suffered, because they did not have the money
with which to buy the bread. They wandered through the streets,
colonnades, and squares begging for a scrap [267] of bread, but no one
had any spare bread in his house. When one of them got some

205

oboli from begging but [could] not buy any bread with them, he

206

would buy a turnip, cabbage, or mallow and eat it raw. A shortage of
vegetables therefore developed, and everything became scarce in the
city and the villages. Some people dared to enter the sanctuaries and
(driven) by their hunger they ate the host as if it were ordinary bread,
while others cut off inedible bits from dead <carcases> and boiled and
ate them. Let your honesty be a witness to these things.

The year 812 (= 500/1 A.D.)

Wine was sold at six measures per denarius after the vintage this

208

year, and raisins at three hundred nummi per kab. Hunger increased

204

At Amid, the wealthy hoarded grain during the famine. John the metropolitan
warned them in sermons to sell or even give it to the poor. Ps. Zachariah, HE 7.3
(Hamilton-Brooks, 154f.). Such resistance to sharing is also reported during the locust
plague of c. 591-595 in Sasanid Arbayistan. The monks at Rabban Bar-‘Idta’s monastery
complained that they were not obliged to share their meagrely rationed provisions with
the poor and orphans. In consequence, the hegumen himself doled out two bread-cakes
and some roasted locusts for the adults to eat, and smaller portions to the children. At the
height of the famine, the monastery is said to have been feeding well over 200 people.
During one twenty-day period, it received only five loaves of bread. Life of Rabban Bar-
Ldtall (Budge, 231).

205

The obol or K bronze coin was tariffed at two per follis. The Greek kappa, here
used as the number ‘20’, stands for 20 nummia, the smallest denomination of bronze

coin.

206

Baked bread cost several folles even in times of relative abundance. Rabbinic texts
from Palestine indicate prices of 2 and 10 folles for a loaf of bread c. 350-400 A.D.
Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 184. By the 6th c., however, such prices would have been high,
because the new folles of Anastasius were larger and had more buying power. Hendy,
Byzantine Monetary Economy, 29If., 338-341, 478. On turnips and cabbages, see
Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 133.

207

For reliance on coarse plants and human flesh in time of famine, see Gamsey,
Famine and Food Supply, 28f. Cannibalism is reported during the Sasanid occupation of

Amid during the winter of 504/5. Below, § 77.

208

Ps.-Joshua here refers to the local vintage near Edessa and Harran. Cf. below, § 52.
Rabbinic texts mention a single xestes (= Latin sextarius, approx. 0.5 litre) of wine
selling at prices of 2 and 10 folles in the 4th c. Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 184. The prescribed
price for ordinary wine in Numidia and Mauretania in 445 was 200 xestai per solidus.
Jones, LRE 446f. Other known sites of wine production in or near Osrhoene were Sura

TRANSLATION

in the villages and the city,^®^ as those who stayed in the villages were

(now) eating vetches, and others were roasting and eating shrivelled

grapes, although there was not enough even of these to satisfy them.

Those who (had come) <into> the city roamed around the streets,

picking out and eating the dung-spattered roots and leaves of

vegetables. They slept in the colonnades and streets, howling night and

day from the pang of hunger. Their bodies grew thin, they lost heart,

211

and they became like <corpses> on account of the thinness of their
bodies. The whole city was full of them, and they began dying in the
colonnades and streets.

When Demosthenes the governor went up to the emperor, he told
him about this distress, and the emperor gave him a considerable sum
of money to divide among the poor.^^^ When he got (back) from him
[268] to Edessa, he marked many of them on their necks with lead seals
and gave each of them a pound of bread per day. However, they could
not live (on this), for they had been debilitated by the distress of hunger
which consumed them. Mortality increased in November, and again in
December when the frost and ice appeared. Since they spent the night
in the colonnades and streets, the sleep of death took hold of them in
their sleep. There were children and infants bleating in all the streets,
some of whose mothers had died, others of whom had abandoned (their
offspring) and fled when they had asked (them) for something to eat,
for they had nothing to give them. Bodies were lying stretched out in
all the streets and the citizens could not bury them, for while taking out

(midway between Callinicum and Dausara, but on the far bank of the Euphrates) and the
village of Zaira da-Sacharae (‘the white barrage’) on the Khabur river. A 3rd c. papyrus
mentions a plot of irrigated land at Zaira containing 600 vinestumps. The Excavations at
Dura-Europus Final Report V. Part I: The Parchments and Papyri^ ed. C. B. Welles et
alii (New Haven, 1959), no. 26. John of Ephesus reports a large vineyard in the
territorium of Martyropolis and an export trade in wine to Cappadocia from a monastery
that apparently lay on the slopes of Tur ‘Abdin. ‘Life of Habib’ and ‘Addai the
chorepiskopos\ Lives of the Eastern Saints 1 and 8 {PO 17, 12-14, 129f.). On Sura, see
Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 131 (hemp rope production), 139f (viticulture), 205 (importation
of bread).

MS.: ‘cities’.

nijcLisaa. Cf. Wright, ad loc.: ‘the small withered grapes that had fallen from the

vines before attaining maturity’. On bitter vetches and lentils, see H. Helbaek, ‘Late
bronze age and Byzantine crops at Beycesultan in Anatolia’, AS 11 (1961), 79-82. Cf
Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 130.

Read with Martin r^.Ta.i»ix. MS.: ‘young plant’. Wright: i<Sq\.?, ‘jackals’.

See ‘Demosthenes 3’, PLRE II 353.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

the first ones which had died, they found others as soon as they
returned. Through the diligence of Mar Nonnus the xenodochos, the
brothers would subsequently go round and gather up the bodies.^^^ The
whole city would assemble at the door of the xenodocheion and go out
to bury them morning after morning, and Mar Tewathel the priest and
Mar Stratonikos, who later on was elevated to the rank of the
episcopate in the city of Harran, (both of them) stewards of the (City)
Church, set up a <sick-room> in the building of the (City) Church of
Edessa. The (famine-)stricken would go in and lie down there, and
many bodies were found in the <sick-room> and buried with those of
the xenodocheion.

The governor blocked the gates of the porticoes {basilikai) at the
winter bath-house (demosion) and put down straw and matting in it.
(People) slept there, but it was not enough [269] for them. When the
nobles of the city saw this, they also set up <sick-rooms>, and many
went in and found shelter in them. Even Roman (soldiers) established
places; the ill slept in them and (the soldiers) took care of their
expenses. They died a distressing and miserable death, and while every
day many of them were buried, (the number of mortalities) still rose,
for word had spread through the chora of the city that the Edessenes
looked after those in need, and an immeasurable mass of humanity had
therefore come into the city. The bath under the Church of the
Apostles, by the Great Gate, was full of sick people, and every day

213

The ‘guest-master’ {xenodochos) of a local church ran its hostel and other institutions
for receiving migrants. Cf. Jones, LRE, 901, etc. He often held the rank of presbyter. Cf.
‘?evo8ox€Lov’ and ‘fewboxos’, G. W. H. Lampe (ed.), A Patristic Greek Lexicon
(Oxford, 1961), 932. Syriac canon law contains references to inns and guesthouses, e.g.
‘Rules of Rabbula for the Monks’, Canon 3, in Voobus, Syriac and Arabic Documents^
27.

214

(subsequently probably read ‘sick-room’; cf.

Brockelmann, Lexicon, 5. Ndldeke, ‘Wright’s edition’, 687, disagrees and thinks of a
Greek word hidden therein. Dolabani: ‘a house roofed with which last,

according to Audo, Dictionary, 6, are ‘mud bricks baked in fire’.

215

The Great Church, sometimes known as that of St. Thomas. Cf. above, § 31. The
Chronicle of Edessa mentions another hospital (nosokomeion) built in the episcopate of
Nonnus (457-471). It was constructed in the so-called House of the Paupers and Lepers
outside the Beth Shemesh Gate near the southeastern comer of the fortifications.
Nonnus later added the martyrion of Sts. Cosmas and Damian to this facility. Chron.
Edessenum, anno 769 (Guidi, 7f.) (version). See Map IV and Segal, Edessa, Plan I and
Plate 5a. (Beth Shemesh Gate). Cf. ‘i/oooKopeioi/’, Lampe, Greek Patristic Lexicon,

TRANSLATION

216 ri-rt

many bodies were taken out of it. The whole city took care
collectively to accompany those who were taken out of the
xenodocheion, with psalms, praises, hymns, and songs full of the hope
of resurrection. Women also (took part) with mournful lamentation and
emotional cries. At their head went Mar Peter, the worthy pastor, and
with him was the governor and all the free-bom. When these (bodies)
had been buried, everyone then came back and accompanied (the
bodies) which were in his own neighbourhood. When the cemeteries of
the xenodocheion and the (City) Church were full, the governor went
out and opened up the old graves by the Church of Mar Qona, which
had been carefully made by those of former times.^^^ These were filled
up, and then they opened others, but they were (still) not sufficient for
them, so finally they were opening and filling any sort of old grave of
whatever kind. Every day from the beginning of November to the
end [270] of March, more than a hundred bodies were taken out of the
xenodocheion, on many days a hundred and twenty to a hundred and
thirty.^^^ In that time nothing could be heard in any of the streets of the
city except lamentation over the deceased or the cries of those in pain.
Many died in the courtyards of the (City) Church, as also in the city
squares and the inns. They were even dying on the roads as they were
coming to enter the city. Again in February the shortage got worse and
mortality increased. Wheat was now being sold at thirteen kabs a
denarius and barley at eighteen, while a pound of meat cost a hundred

The church was built in the archiepiscopate of Ibas-Hibha (435-457). It originally
had a different but unknown name. The chronicler observes: ‘This [bishop] built the new
church which is nowadays called the temple of the Apostles.’ Chron. Edessenum. Anno
746 (Guidi, 7) (version). The church lay east of the town centre on a street leading to the
Great Gate. The gate itself stands in a shallow salient that projects into the bend of the
Daisan, which has a bridge at this point. See Map IV.

Mar Qona was the first known Christian church to be built in Edessa. Bishop Qona is
said to have laid its foundations in 312/3. It evidently lay in the precinct of a 3rd c.
cemetery that had impressively carved, perhaps pre-Christian, funerary monuments. Cf.
Chron. Edessenum, anno 624 (Guidi, 5). The first publicly recognised Christian
cemetery was built near the church of Mar Qona and dedicated by archbishop Aytallaha
in 323/4. Chron. Edessenum, anno 635 and 636 (Guidi, 5) (version). Its location is
unknown.

I.e. pre-Christian graves.

The Chinese annals mention the appearance of a great comet on 13 January 501. Ps.-
Joshua may have shifted its position in his chronology perhaps deliberately, making it a
portent rather than a sign in the midst of the famine. Cf. above § 37, n. 176.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

nummi, a pound of fowl three hundred nummi, and an egg forty nummi.
In a word, everything edible was in short supply.

44 Petitions were made in March concerning plague, that it might be
held back from the strangers, and the citizens (of Edessa), when
praying for them, were like the blessed David when he said to the angel
destroying his people, Tf I have sinned and acted perversely, what
wrongs have these innocent sheep done? Let your hand be upon me
and upon my family.’ In April, however, plague broke out among
the citizens. In a single day many biers were taken out, and no one
could grasp their number. This devastation of plague not only affected
Edessa, but from Antioch to Nisibis people were destroyed in this way
and tortured by famine and plague. In this year many of the rich
died, who had not suffered from hunger, as did many of the nobles of
the city. In June and July, after the harvest, we were hoping that from
now on we would be delivered from the shortage, but it did not turn out
for us as we had hoped. On the contrary, the wheat of the new harvest
was being sold at as much as five modii a denarius}^^

The year 813 ( = 501/2 A.D.)

45 After these calamities of locusts, famine, and plague which I have
described to you, [271] something of a breathing-space emerged for us,
by the mercy of God. (This was) that we might be able to endure what
was (still) to come, as we perceived from the (subsequent) events.

Samuel 24: 17.

The inscriptions of the Limestone Massif in Syria I reveal no sharp breaks in building
activity at this time, suggesting that the provinces west of the Euphrates were not
affected so badly as Osrhoene. Plague deaths are occasionally mentioned in the
epigraphy, but not for this period. Cf. the inscription of bishop Wa’ir of Zorava (ob.
542/3) ‘upon whom God brought the fate of the boubon in the armpit.’ Waddington,
Inscriptions, 2497. (Date corrected. Written communication from Johannes Koder and
Marcel Restle). Cf. the synchronism of the known spread of the bubonic plague in
Palestine and Arabia with three funerary inscriptions at Gaza between 14 August-1
September 541 and, after it began to move inland, five at Nessana, Rehovot and ‘Avdat
between 27 October-19 December 541 (four of them 2-16 November). Meimaris,
Chronological Systems, nos. 123-125, 283-287 (possibly also nos. 280-281). Thus, it
took about two months for the plague to advance c. 60 km. overland. In general, see L.
Conrad, ‘Epidemic disease in central Syria in the late sixth century: some new insights
from the verse of Hassan ibn Thabit’, BMGS 18 (1994), 12-14, 53-57. Cf. the
chronology in T. Honore, Tribonian, 61-64. Averil Cameron, The Mediterranean World

in Late Antiquity AD 395-600 (London, 1993), 164 and 231, nn. 146-147.

222

This is still at famine rate.

TRANSLATION

Thus there was a plentiful vintage (this year), wine was sold from the
press at twenty-five measures a denarius, and the poor were well
provided from the vineyards by the harvest of raisins. Farmers and
vine-dressers said that the harvest of raisins was more plentiful than the
wheat because a hot wind came up when the grapes started to
<ripen>,^^^ and the bulk of them dried up. It was said by the discerning
that this happened through the providence of God, the Lord of all, and
the event was (a case of) the mingling of mercy with punishment, so
that the villagers might survive on the raisins which had (now)
appeared, and not perish from hunger as in the previous year, since
even at this time wheat was (still) being sold at only four modii a
denarius, and barley at six. Then such a sign of (God’s) mercy
appeared during October and November. The whole winter of this
year was exceedingly rainy, and the seed that was sown had shot up in
some places above a man’s height before April arrived. Even tilled
(parts)^^^ of land bore little less than that (part) which had been sown.
Similarly, even the roofs of houses bore a lot of grass, which some
people cut and sold as ‘mules’-grass’ from the fields. Because it had
spikes and was full grown in height, it was not recognised (as such) by
the buyers. [272] We were expecting and hoping during this year that
there would be a big reduction in the price of com as in earlier years.
But this expectation was not realised, for a parching wind blew up in
May for three days, and all the com in our country was scorched,
except in a few places.

During this month, when the day came on which was celebrated that
evil festival of the Greek myths, on which information was given by us

above, an order came from the emperor Anastasius that the dancers

228

should dance no more in any of the cities of his imperial domain.
Therefore anyone who pays attention to the outcome of events will not
criticise us for having said that the punishments of hunger and plague

Read MS.:

I.e. the fruits of the vintage were collected in October-November 501.

cruja’i^. Audo, Dictionary, 480: ‘close furrows’. Perhaps read cnL^*icu«, ‘barren’

(Wright).

ctypoaoTLS, one of several species of wild grass that also include ‘dog’s-

tooth grass’ and ‘sea barley’.

Cf. §§ 27,30, 33.

Cf. Procopius of Gaza, Panegyric 16 (ed./tr. Chauvot, p. 18/42); and Introduction, pp.

XVl-XVll.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

developed and came upon us because of the evil which the citizens
committed at this festival. For consider this: less than thirty days after
its abolition, wheat, which had (previously) been sold at four modii a
denarius, was being sold for twelve {modii a denarius); and barley,
which had been selling at six modii (a denarius), was now being sold at
twenty-two. So it was made manifestly clear to everyone that the will
of God can bless even a small crop and give plenty to those who repent
of their sins. For as I said (above), all the com was scorched, but
from the small surviving remnant all this alleviation occurred within
thirty days. Someone, however, might perhaps still say that I have not
reasoned very well, for this repentance, because of which there was
mercy, was not voluntary; on the contrary, the emperor compulsorily
abolished the festival because he decreed that on no account were the
dancers to dance. We say, however, that God, on account of the
abundance of his grace, was looking for a pretext to be merciful, even
on those who are unworthy. [273] His mercy upon Ahab serves as an
example for us, when (Ahab) was put to shame by the reproof of Elijah,
but (God) did not bring about in his lifetime the evil which had been
decreed against his house.^^^

I am not in this way saying, however, that this was the only sin
committed in our city, for in fact the sins perpetrated in private and
public were numerous. But because even the mlers were involved in
them, I do not intend to specify these sins, lest I give an opportunity to
those who love to criticise to say against us that I am speaking against
the mlers. However, in order not to leave the matter completely
hidden, because I promised earlier on to show you from whence the
war was stirred up against us,^^^ and in order not to say anything further
against the arrogant, I shall (simply) put down a word of a prophet from
which you will understand (what I mean). When he saw that his
fellow-countrymen were doing things which are like these presently
done in our city, and even more so where you are and throughout the
whole chora, he said to them in the name of the Lord, ‘Alas for him
who says to his father, “What are you begetting?”, or to his mother,
“What are you bearing?” ’. It is best to keep quiet about other things,

229

230

231

232

Cf. § 45.

Cf. I Kings 21 : 17-29.
Cf. § 6.

Isaiah 45 : 10.

TRANSLATION

for one should pay attention to the word of Scripture which declares, ‘A

233

prudent man will stay quiet at that time, for it is a time of evil’.
However, if our Lord allows us to see you in health, we will say (more)

234

to you about these things as far as we are able.

But now, listen to the horrors which took place this year and to the
sign which became visible on the day they occurred, because you have
required us (to write about) this too. On the twenty-second of August
this year, on the night preceding Friday, we saw a huge fire [274]
burning in the northern quarter (of the sky) all night and accordingly
thought that the whole earth was going <to be consumed> by a torrent
of fire that night.^^^ The mercy of our Lord preserved us unharmed, but
a letter was sent to us by some acquaintances of ours who were on then-
way to Jerusalem, in which it was (said) that the city of Ptolemais,
otherwise known as Acre, was flattened on the night that the huge
blazing fire was seen, and nothing in it was left standing. Furthermore,
some days later some Tyrians and Sidonians came to us and told us that
parts of their cities, i.e., part of Tyre and part of Sidon, also fell down
on the same day as the fire appeared and Ptolemais was flattened.^^^ In
Beirut,^^^ on the day when Acre was destroyed, only the synagogue of
the Jews collapsed,^^^ but the (entire) population of Nicomedia was
handed over to Satan to be punished: many of them were attacked by

Amos 5:13.

On the interpretation of this cryptic passage, cf. the Introduction, pp. xix-xx.

I.e., Thursday night. The day of the week is correct. Ginzel, Handbuch der
Chronologic, 129-131.

This appearance of the aurora borealis is also reported in Chron. Edessenum, anno
813 (Guidi, 8) (version), but with no apocalyptic detail. Chinese sources indicate
increased sunspot activity at this time. Schove-Fletcher, Eclipses and Comets, 32If. It is
conceivable that these phenomena were causally related to the seismic disturbances
reported at Tyre, Sidon, Acre and Ptolemais. (Oral communication from Gareth
Leyshon and Antonio Irranca.)

All these towns lay on the coast of Phoenice I. M. Mundell Mango, ‘Sidon’ and
‘Tyre’, ODB, 1892f., 2134. Cf. Grumel, Chronologic, 478, who adds Neocaesarea in
Pontus Polemoniacus (present-day Niksar) to the list. The latter town was more probably
destroyed with Nicopolis in Armenia I in September 499. Cf. above, §§ 34-35, and
Theophanes, Chronographia AM 5995 (Mango-Scott, 223, n. 3).

The provincial capital of Phoenice I. M. Mundell Mango, ‘Berytus’, ODB, 284f.

A law given on 15 February 423 for the praetorian prefect of Oriens forbade the
construction of new synagogues and required old ones to be left in their present state.
Cod. Theod. 16.8.25. Its implications for the building in Beirut are not clear.

Nicomedia, provincial capital of Bithynia in northwestern Asia Minor. Cf. C. Foss,
‘Nikomedia’, ODB, 1483f. ‘Nicomedia’, PECS, 623f.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

evil spirits, until they recalled the words of our Lord,^"*^ remained
constant in fasting and prayer, and (thus) received healing.^"*^

Now on the very day on which that fire appeared, the king of the
Persians, Kawad son of Peroz, gathered the whole army of the Persians
and, coming up by the northern (route), crossed the Roman border with
the army of Huns which he had with him.^"^^ He laid siege to
Theodosiopolis in Armenia and took it in a few days, for the governor
of that place, whose name was Constantine, turned against the

Cf. Matt. 17:21; Mk. 9 : 29.

On ‘possession’ as a phenomenon of Anatolian religious psychopathology, see the
provisional remarks of S. Mitchell, Anatolia II (Oxford, 1993), 139-150. For a different
view, see Trombley,///?C II 108f

243

Cf above, § 24. Kawad’s advance to the frontier began in the Sasanid Caucasian
provinces (Arran, Adurbadagan and Balasagan) and followed the course of the Araxes
river through Persarmenia (Armin). Procopius’ claim {Wars 1.7.3) that he moved faster
than the ‘rumours of war’ preceding him (auTdyyeXo?) cannot, at first sight, be
accepted. At least some of the Huns were Hephthalites serving as mercenaries. Cf. the
encounter between one of their detachments and the monk Ya‘qub at Endielion (location
unknown), a day’s march from Amid. Procopius, Wars 1.7.5-11 (Dewing I 50-53). Pace
Dilleman, Procopius’ use of the term ‘place’ or ‘village’ with the genitive plural (ei^
XwpLti) ’Ev'bLpXcov) suggests the name of a village rather than a region. Haute
Mesopotamie, 87, n. 1.

Ps.-Joshua refers to his office as ocn (‘governor of that place’),

which is consistent with civil office or military command. The probably correct view is
that Constantine was comes Armeniae, whom Procopius states was ‘not in command of
Roman soldiers, but only of a few Armenians’. De Aedificiis 3.1.27. Armenia Interior,
where Theodosiopolis-Erzerum lay, was technically allied territory. Its fortifications
were financed, temporarily garrisoned by, and named after Theodosius II. Cf Adontz,
Armenia in the Period of Justinian, 25f, 49, 119-122 (not a very lucid discussion).
Zeno imposed the comes Armeniae and degraded the satrap to a symbolic position after
the latter sided with Ulus’ and Leontius’ rebellion in 484-488. It is clear from Procopius
that the comes Armeniae required the military experience to lead the troops of the
Armenian naxarars’, at the same time he had to collect certain tax monies, the
dppevLQicd SqpooLa, which were either annonae or some form of tribute, after a law of
Anastasius dated 496. Cod. lust. 10.16.13. The latter explains his subordination to the
praetorian prefect of Oriens. Even so, his officium must have contained a detachment of
officers who could work with the indigenous troops. In emergencies, he could call in the
dux Armeniae and dux utriusque Ponti. The latter command was created post c. 470, but
there is no evidence for it in the War of 502-506. Cod. lust. 12.59 (60). 10.4 (Krueger,
485). Cf Jones, LRE, 609. The deployments mentioned in the early 5th c. Notitia
Dignitatum were out of date by this time. The dux utriusque Ponti must have taken over
some of the formations previously commanded by the old dux Armeniae (whom ps.-
Joshua styles as ^dux of Melitene’), as they lay inside the new circumscription. Cf Not.
Dign. Or. XXXVIII, and below, § 51. Martindale proposes that Constantine was

TRANSLATION

Romans and surrendered it, because of some hostility he harboured
against the emperor. Kawad therefore plundered the city, and destroyed
and burnt it.^"^^ [275] He also destroyed all the villages in the northern
region and took the survivors into captivity. He made Constantine
(one of) his army commander(s), left a garrison in Theodosiopolis, and

247

went onwards.

The year 814 (= 502/3 A.D.)

During this year great disasters struck the region of Mesopotamia
where we live, so that what Christ our Lord decreed in his gospel
against Jerusalem and in fact fulfilled, and also what was proclaimed
about the end of this age, do indeed conform to what happened to us at
this time. For after earthquakes had happened in one place and another,
as I have written for you, and after there had been famines, plagues.

magister militum vacans specially sent to watch the frontier in view of Kawad’s
threatening attitude. ‘Constantinus 14*, PLRE II 313. This is consistent with his rank,
previous military experience in Thrace, and the titulature given him by in all the sources,
e.g. ‘a powerful Roman general’ (aTpaxriyog 'Pcopattov 80 ^ 0 x 69 ). John Malalas,
Chronographia, 398, line 15. But it seems to be an unnecessary construction in the light
of what is known about the comes Armeniae. On the sources, see Adontz, Armenia in the
Period of Justinian, 85-96. Cf. the useful critique of Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War,
79f.

Ps.-Zachariah of Mytilene gives a completely different version, saying that Kawad
took Constantine prisoner and treated the fortress’s inhabitants mercifully. HE 7.3
(Hamilton-Brooks, 152f.). Ps.-Joshua is certainly right about Constantine’s defection,
because Kawad made him one of his generals. Below, §§ 55, 74. Furthermore, ps.-
Zachariah probably exaggerates Kawad’s kindness to Theodosiopolis-Erzerum’s
inhabitants to contrast their fate with that of the people of Amid. Below, § 53.
Theodosiopolis’ other names were Karin and Erzerum (‘city of the Romans’). Originally
a small hill fortress ((t)poupLov), it was sited east of the frontier in the satrapies of
Armenia Interior in the portage between the headwaters of the Euphrates and Araxes.
Adontz, Armenia in the Period of Justinian, 119-122. The precise reason for Procopius’
calling the place ‘easily assaulted’ (eudXwxov) in 502 is unknown; by this he seems
implicitly to reject ps.-Joshua’s view that Constantine’s treason explains the fall of the
fortress. Procopius, De Aedificiis 3.5.2-4. Cf. N. Garsoian, ‘Theodosioupolis’, ODB,
2054.

Viz. the villages in the pro-Roman Armenia satrapy of Asthianene, and perhaps
Chorzane and Belabitene. Cf. E. Honigmann, Die Ostgrenze des byzantinischen Reiches
von 363 bis 1071 (Brussels, 1935), Map I.

The period of rounding up captives in the Armenian mountains lasted some six
weeks, between about 25 August to 5 October, when Kawad’s army reached Amid. Ps.-
Joshua fails to mention the Sasanid capture of Martyropolis during this time. Below. §
50, n. 257.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

panics, and terrors, and mighty signs had appeared from heaven, nation
rose up against nation and kingdom against kingdom,^"^^ we fell by the
edge of the sword and were taken captive all over the place, and our
own country was trampled on by foreign nations. As a result, if it
had not been for the words of our Lord, we would have ventured to say
that the end of the age had come, for many indeed thought along these
lines and said so. What (our Lord) said (was), ‘When you hear of wars
and tumults, do not be afraid, for these things must first happen, but the
end has not yet come.’ We observed, however, that this war had not
broken out over the whole world, and with this we also recalled the
words of the blessed Paul in which he cautioned the Thessalonians
about the coming of our Lord, saying that they should not be troubled
by word or spirit or misleading epistle, as if it were from [276] him,
alleging that the Day of the Lord had now arrived, and showed
(them) that the end could not come until the false Christ had been
revealed. Thus from these words of our Lord and his apostle, we
realised that these things did not happen to us because it was the final
age, but (that) they occurred to discipline us, because our sins had

253

grown so great.

Cf. Lk. 21 : 10-11 (and Matt. 24 : 6; Mk. 13 : 8).

John, metropolitan of Amid, claimed, probably in a sermon, to have seen an
apocalyptic vision not long before his death on the eve of the Persian invasion of
Mesopotamia in 502. Standing beside a church altar, an angel predicted the ruin of
Amid as divine retribution against the city counsellors who had withheld grain from the
poor during the locust plague and famine of 500-502. In earlier talks with the nobles,
John had said they were ‘only hoarding [grain] for the enemy’. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 13
(Hamilton-Brooks, 154f.).

““ Lk. 21 : 9 (cf. Matt. 24 ; 6; Mk. 13 : 7).

II Thess. 2 : 2.

Cf ibid. 3.

253

Ps.-Joshua here consciously rejects the apocalyptic tradition expressed in works like
the Seventh Vision of Daniel (originally in Greek, late 5th-early 6th c.) that the world
would end in the year 6000 after the creation. The date was variously calculated as 501
and 507/8 A.D. Ps.-Joshua is our principal witness for the existence of this kind of
speculation in Osrhoene. It is usually assumed that the so-called Oracle of Baalbek was
a product of this tradition. Cf. P. Alexander (ed./tr.), The Oracle of Baalbek: the
Tiburtine Sibyl in Greek Dress (Washington, D.C., 1967), 118-120, who argues that the
latest identifiable historical events in this apocalypse belong to the first year of the
Persian War of 502-506 : ‘And the Persians will rise up in [Anastasius’J time and
trample on the cities of Oriens by the sword along with the greater number of the
soldiers of the Roman empire.’ Ibid., 19, lines 170-173. At first sight, this broad
statement takes into account the fall of Theodosiopolis-Erzerum, Amid and

TRANSLATION

On the fifth of October, a Saturday, Kawad, king of the Persians,
came from the north, and he and his whole army laid siege to the city of
Amid, which is with us in Mesopotamia. When Anastasius, emperor
of the Romans, heard that Kawad had gathered his army, he did not
want to join battle with him, so that no blood should be shed on either
side. Instead, he sent him gold through Ruflnus, and gave him orders
that if Kawad was (still) on the border and had not yet crossed into

256

Roman territory, he should give him the gold and send him away.
However, when Ruflnus reached Caesarea in Cappadocia, he heard that

257

Kawad had ravaged Agel, Suph, Armenia, and the ‘Arab. He

Martyropolis, along with the military operations that culminated in the Roman defeat at
Opadna in August 503. Below, § 57. The oracle is uninformed about the victories that
followed, hence the argument for a terminus ante quern of 503/4. Oracle of Baalbek,
41 f On ps.-Joshua’s reaction to apocalyptic, see also W. Brandes, ‘Anastasios 6
StopKO?: Endzeiterwartung und Kaiserkritik in Byzanz um 500 n. Chr.’, BZ 90 (1997),
39-41, 53. The difficulty with the received view about the date of the Oracle of Baalbek
is that lines 173-227 of the Greek text have not been studied in detail. Some passages
can easily be taken as allusions to later events, inter alia the violence of the circus
factions, Phokas’ murder of Maurice and his sons, the Sasanid general Shahin’s march to
Chalcedon in 615, and Herakleios’ thirty-year reign (5 October 610-11 February 641).
Cf. also above, pp. xx-xxi.

For the fortifications of Amid, see A. Gabriel, Voyages archeologigues dans la
Turquie orientale I (Paris, 1940), 85-205. See further below. Appendix and Map V.

This is difficult to reconcile with Procopius’ claim {Wars 1.7.3) that Kawad’s army
reached Amid ‘unexpectedly’ (alcjiRSLou). Procopius is certainly wrong in view of ps.-
Joshua’s statements in this chapter and the negotiations that Procopius himself admits
took place between Kawad and the pro-Roman satrap Theodore of Sophene at
Martyropolis ot De Aedificiis 3.2.6-7 (Dewing 189).

Cf. ‘Ruflnus 13’, PLRE II 954. Ps.-Joshua is our only source on his career before
515. Kawad held Rufinus captive throughout the siege of Amid. See below, § 54.

It is evident from this that Rufinus arrived in Oriens after Kawad took
Theodosiopolis-Erzerum and headed south for Amid. Ps.-Joshua gives the Syriac names
for Agilene, Sophene, the ‘Arab, and the Armenian satrapies later organised by Justinian
into Armenia III and IV. For the location of the ‘Arab, cf above § 38, note 180 and Map
II. Ps.-Joshua makes a peculiar lapse here, omitting Kawad’s capture of Martyropolis on
the march south from Theodosiopolis-Erzerum, information provided by Procopius at
DeAedificiis 3.2.4-10. Martyropolis (previously the Armenian Neprkert, now known as
Farqin, Silvan or Mayafarqin) lay in Sophene not far from the west bank of the Kallath-
Nymphius river (present-day Batman Su), which marked the Sasanid-Roman frontier.
Once away from Theodosiopolis-Erzerum, Kawad’s army seems to have reached the
headwaters of the Arsanias river and moved down its course as far west as Anzitene and,
after splitting into detachments, to have gone across the passes of the Taurus as far west
as Agilene (through the Illyrisis kleisoura) and east as far as the Qoulp torrent (through
which the Saphcha kleisoura passes) and down the Kallath-Nymphius river. See Map II.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

(therefore) left the gold in Caesarea, went to (Kawad), and told him to
leave the border and take the gold. (Kawad) did not consent, but laid
hold of Rufinus and ordered that he be detained. He and his whole
army fought against Amid, by day and night, (using) every device^^^ of
war, and built a mound against it, but the Amidenes built up the wall
and increased its height. After the mound had been erected, the
Persians brought up a battering-ram, and when they battered the wall
violently, the new superstructure was forced loose and fell, because it
had not yet settled down. The Amidenes, however, dug through the

Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, Fig. Ill and XXXIII (and also Honigmann,
Ostgrenze, Map I, where the Saphcha kleisoura is placed 80 km. west of its actual
location). Procopius mentions that Theodore, the pro-Roman satrap of Sophene, handed
over two years’ taxes and, contrary to ps.-Joshua’s account, purchased the safety of ‘the
town [Martyropolis] and the entire country’ (TroXewg t€ kqI dirdarig). Sophene

was formally annexed to the Persian kingdom with Theodore now acting as Kawad’s
satrap. Anastasius is said to have recognised the indefensibility of Martyropolis and its
environs, and to have forgiven Theodore for his disloyalty, even though (as it seems)
this compromised the defence of the line of the upper Tigris and that of Amid, which lay
c. 70 km. away to the southwest. Procopius correctedly asserts that Martyropolis’ circuit
wall was only four feet thick and twenty feet high, ‘low enough practically to leap over’
(dXXd Kal eoTTriSfiaaL iKayw? TTpoxetpov), and the fortifications were not brought up to
a first-class standard until the reign of Justinian, probably c. 530 when Sophene was
coopted into the province of Armenia IV with its own dux. Procopius, De Aedificiis
3.2.1-14. Cf. Michael Whitby, ‘Procopius’ description of Martyropolis {De Aedificiis III.
2.10-14)’, Byzantinoslavica 45 (1984), 177-182. For a precis of the early history of
Martyropolis and its fortifications, see C. Mango, ‘Deux foudes sur Byzance et la Perse
sassanide’, TM 9 (1985), 91-95, and Figs. 1 (site plan) and 5 (gate). Cf Gabriel,
Voyages archeologiques I 209-221.

258

cjxripa.

nfiu.iQA , lit. ‘mule’.

260 •

The Amidenes raised the height of the city wall only after the mound was equal to its
height. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.3 (Hamilton-Brooks, 153). On the use of mounds (aggeres),
cf Procopius, Wars 1.7.14 (X64)09) and Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 164. Ps.-
Joshua’s use of ‘the Amidenes’ should not be taken as corroboration of Procopius’ claim
that there were no regular soldiers in the city {Wars 1.7.4). Cf the case of Tella-
Constantina, where the defenders are called ‘Tellenes’, but comes Leontius was
defending the place with a large detachment of Areobindus’ troops. Below, § 58. It is
unknown whether the two vexillations mentioned as stationed at Amid in Not. Dign. Or.
XXXVI 19 and 21 rode to Tella-Constantina to concentrate with the other numeri of the
province under Olympius dux of Mesopotamia. The energetic defence of Amid,
including the use of an onager (the ‘striker’: § 53 and nn. 286 and 287), may indicate
that at least some of these soldiers stayed behind and fought. Cf below, § 53.

Viz. the mortar and concrete fill behind the outward-facing blocks had not sufficient
time to set and dry. As Amid is surrounded by the Tigris escarpment to the south and

TRANSLATION

wall under the mound and secretly drew off into the city the earth

heaped up within it, while supporting [277] it during the working with

262

posts. (Thus) the mound was undermined and collapsed.

263

As Kawad was unable to get the better of the city, he despatched
Nu‘man, king of the Ta 3 ^aye, with his whole army to go south to the
territory of the Harranites. Some of the Persian army even carried
their advance as far as the city (known either as) Constantina or Telia,

east, the Persians must have built the mound and directed their battering rams against the
north or west face of the enceinte, where the slope is not so steep. Cf. Berchem,
‘Recherches’, 262, Fig. 2. Ps.-Zachariah indicates that the defenders dropped bundles of
rushes to cushion the blows of the rams. In contrast, Procopius observes that the
Amidenes broke the shafts of the battering rams by dropping long timbers across their
necks, a detail omitted in the Syriac accounts. Wars 1.7.12. Although plausible, the story
could be a ‘battle-piece’ topos describing what the defenders might have been expected
to do under the circumstances. Cf. Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 160f, for 4th c.
evidence on rams {aries).

The battle of the mound was fought a week or two before 19 November 502 (date of
the battle of Tell-Beshmai, mentioned later in § 51). Ps.-Zachariah gives a more detailed
account than ps.-Joshua about the Persian attack on the wall of Amid. The Amidenes cut
a breach in the wall, dug under the mound, hauled the soil and debris into the city, and
propped up the tunnel with beams. Meanwhile, the Persians laid a walkway of wooden
beams along the mound toward the wall and sited armoured archers there (probably
dismounted cavalry) to support the assault. The Amidenes responded by hurling strings
flayed from an ox onto the walkway. These had been soaked in vetch mixed with myrrh-
oil and made the walkway slippery. At the same time they set fire to the beams in the
cavity below the mound. After six hours’ fighting the fire below surged upward and
incinerated the mound. All the while the Amidenes kept up fire against the archers. Ps.-
Zachariah, HE 13 (Hamilton-Brooks, 153f.). Cf. Procopius, Wars 1.7.14-15 (with less
detail).

Procopius omits all details of the next two months of the siege and puts the discovery
of the water channel by which the Persians in fact got into the city ‘a few days later’ (viz.
after the collapse of the mound), instead of two months later, just before the city fell on
10-13 January 503 (cf. below, § 53). There is indirect corroboration of ps.-Joshua’s
chronology at the beginning of ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.4 (where the Syriac may render a
genitive absolute in the Greek original of the text that indicates a long period of fighting
after the collapse of the mound): ‘When Kawad and his army had been defeated in the
various assaults which they made upon the city, and a large number of his soldiers had
perished, his hands were weakened ...’ (Hamilton-Brooks, 155). A Persian source
evidently lies behind Procopius’ story that the magi in Kawad’s camp saw a ‘sign’ in the
offensive behaviour of prostitutes, who stood on the fortifications and displayed their
pudenda. It was said that the city would soon ‘reveal secret and hidden things’, viz. its
hidden wealth would fall into Persian hands. Wars 1.7.16-20.

‘Naamanes IT, PLRE II 770. It is generally agreed that Nu‘man II was with Kawad
outside Amid. I. Shahid, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century, 1 (Washington,
D.C., 1995), 13.Cf §52.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

265

plundering, robbing, and devastating the whole region. On the

266

nineteenth of November, Olympius, the dux of Telia, and
Eugenius, the dux of Melitene, who had come down at that time,
(each) went out with their army and routed any Persians that they found
in the villages around Telia. After turning back to return to the city,
they were told that five hundred men were located in a certain valley
not very far from them. They made ready to march against them, but
the Roman forces that were with them had dispersed to strip the dead.
Since night had come, Olympius gave the order to light a beacon on a
hill-top and sound the trumpets to gather those who had dispersed, but

269

when the Persian marzbans encamped at the village of Tell-Beshmai

265

Tella-Constantina, present-day Viranshehir. At this point, the siege of Amid had
lasted perhaps four weeks (since October). It seems Kawad was anxious to keep the
army active in the face of a protracted and possibly demoralising inactivity. The Persian
detachment crossed into Osrhoene by the road running across the saddle between Mts.
Aisouma and Izala (present-day Karaca Dagh and Tur ‘Abdin). See Map II. Cf

Dilleman, Haute Mesopotamie, 189, n. 5. Fig. X.

266

Olympius was dux of Mesopotamia (and not Osrhoene) in 502/3. Cf. Theophanes,
Chron. AM 5996 (Mango-Scott 224, n. 5), where the editors correct ‘Olympius 14’,
PLRE II 804. As Procopius indicates, his headquarters was at Tella-Constantina. Wars
1.22.3 (Dewing I 202f). In autumn 502, the provincial numeri billeted round Tur ‘Abdin
seem to have concentrated at Telia not long after news came of the Persian invasion of
the Armenian satrapies. As noted above (§ 12, n. 52), ps.-Joshua’s recurrent use of the
name of the town- where the stratelates or dux had his headquarters is devoid of
administrative or technical meaning.

267

Cf. ‘Eugenius 6’, PLRE II 417. Eugenius had previously been dux of Euphratesia.
Sometime between 499-502, he defeated a raiding force of Lakhmid Arabs in an
engagement at Bithrapsa in Syria I. Theophanes, Chron. AM 5990 (Mango-Scott 217
and n. 2). Thus, duces sometimes crossed into adjacent jurisdictions in emergencies, as
Eugenius did in the present instance. Euphratesia was made a separate command from
that of the dux of Syria in the reign of Leo I {post 470?). Jones, LRE^ 609, from Cod.
lust. 59 (60). 10.4. The latter had the task of covering the approaches to the provinces of
Syria I and II, a frontier zone sometimes called ‘the limes of Chalcis’. For formations

and billets in the early 5th c., see Not. Dign. Or. XXXIII (Seeck 69-71).

268

I.e. dux utriusque Armeniae {'dux of the one and the other Armenia’, viz. I and II),
which were organised as a separate command from that of Pontus in the reign of Leo I
{post 4707), several decades after the Notitia Dignitatum were compiled for the east, as
in Or. XXXVIII (Seeck 83-85). For the law, see previous note.

269 *

Tell-Beshmai (in Greek, Bismideon) lies just below the foothills of Tur ‘Abdin,
probably commanding a good view of the ‘Arab. It lies some 50 km. east-northeast of
the territorium of Telia where the plundered villages lay. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann,
Haute Mesopotamie, Fig. XI. The mosaic inscriptions recovered near present-day Derik
may belong to Tell-Beshmai. One of them, laid in 481/2, mentions the comes and dux
Cyrus, who has been plausibly identified as the dux of Mesopotamia. C. and M.

TRANSLATION

saw the light of the fire and heard the sound of the trumpets, they made
their whole army battle-ready and attacked them. The Roman
cavalry turned tail when they saw that the Persians outnumbered them,
but the infantry could not escape and werie forced to fight. They
assembled and drew up in order for battle, formed what is termed a
chelone or ‘tortoise’, and fought for a long time, but since the Persian
<army> outnumbered them, and was also augmented by Huns and
Tayyaye, [278] the ranks of the (Romans) were broken. Thrown into
confusion and mingled with the cavalry, they were trodden and
trampled under the <hooves> of the horses of the Tayyaye. Thus

275

many of the Romans were killed and the rest were taken captive.

On the twenty-sixth of this month, Nu‘man also arrived from the
south and entered the territory of the Harranites. He ravaged and
plundered (it), and took away captive men, cattle, and goods from the

Mundell Mango, ‘Inscriptions de la Mesopotamie du Nord’, TM 11 (1991), 465-471,
nos, 1-3.

The Roman forces had evidently pursued the Persians a great distance eastward.
Olympius probably thought the Persians were too dispersed to risk a night engagement
against his own scattered troops.

The Notitia Dignitatum mentions four infantry formations billeted in Mespotamia in
the early 5th c. Unless redeployed by 503, the infantry will probably have been elements
of the legio I Parthica Nisibena based in Tella-Constantina, the force of limitanei
nearest to the site of the battle. Not. Dign. Or. XXXVI 29 (Seeck 78).

-ro.i (xeXojVT]) , Latin testudo. In Vegetius 4.14, the term refers to a

shed used to protect the operators of a ram while attacking a wall. Southem-Dixon, Late
Roman Army, 162. In the sense meant by ps.-Joshua, the chelone was the infantry tactic
of locking shields for vertical and all-round defence against missiles.

The Sasanid, Lakhmid and Hunnic mounted troops would first have subjected the
‘tortoise’ to sustained missile fire from below the hill. When this failed, they seem to
have broken the Roman formation by the lance after an advance up the slope. This last
task was presumably carried out by the Sasanid clibanarii, as Arabs and Huns {viz.
Hephthalites) generally served as light cavalry in desert and steppe warfare. A. S.
Shahbazi, ‘Army I. Pre-Islamic Iran’, Encyclopaedia Iranica II 497. Neither Procopius
nor ps.-Zachariah mentions the engagement at Tell-Beshmai.

"“ms. ‘dust’.

The Sasanid tactical manual quoted in the Ayin-name (mid-6th c.) gives detailed
advice on how to conduct night attacks. C. A. Inostrancev, ‘The Sasanian military
theory’, tr. L, Bogdanov, Journal of the Carma Oriental Institute 1 (1926), 15f The
Romans also did badly in a night battle against the Bulgars in 493. Apart from the death
of the Roman commander nothing is known of its circumstances. Marcellinus Comes,
Chronicle 31,108.

The Lakhmids are said to have come up against Harran-Carrhae ‘from the south’.
This would mean that, after the battle of Tell-Beshmai (in which they took part).

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

277

whole territory of the Harranites. He even came as far as Edessa,
ravaging, plundering, and taking captive all the villages. The number
of people whom he led away into captivity was eighteen thousand and
five hundred, not counting those who were killed and the cattle, goods,

278 ^

and spoil of all kinds. The reason so many people were in the
villages is that it was the vintage season, when not only the villagers,
but also many Harranites and Edessenes, had gone out for the vintage
and were (thus) taken captive. On account of this, Edessa was shut up
and placed under guard. Trenches were dug, the wall put in order,
and the gates of the city blocked up with hewn stones, because they
were worn out. They had been intending to renew them, and to make
bolts for the sluices of the river, so that no one might enter by
them. Sufficient iron, however, could not be found for the work, so an
order was given that every household in Edessa should provide ten
pounds of iron, and when this had been done, the work was
completed. (Meanwhile,) when Eugenius realised that he could not

Nu‘man rode south through the pass between Mt. Aisouma and Tur ‘Abdin, round
Tektek Dagh to the east of Harran, and thence to the Balissos (present-day Balikh) river,
watering his animals there and then rapidly advancing from an unexpected direction (viz.
with the Roman provincials thinking the enemy was to the northeast in the vicinity of
Tella-Constantina). If these suppositions are accurate, Nu‘man would have covered c.
200 km. in 10-15 days. Map II. Cf. DiWemmny Haute MesopotamiCy Fig. XI.

Cf. S. Lloyd and W. Brice, ‘Harran’, AS I (1951), 78f, 84f, 89f, 97-103, which
reports fortifications mostly of Islamic date. The territorium is briefly described at ibid.,
81-84 and Plate Vila. The West or Halab Gate appears to be of Late Roman
construction. Preusser, Nordmesopotamische Baudenkmdlery Plate 71.

278

The haul of 18,500 captives will have been seen as fair return for the long ride. The
price of slaves fluctuated between c. 20-30 solidi for adults with craft skills. Jones, LREy
852. Cf. Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 165f.

279

This measure was taken because Harran-Carrhae lay only 34 km. south-southwest of
Edessa.

pOXXOL.

281

KaTappdKTQL.

282

The iron evidently came from household tools and fittings. Cf. the reference to iron
body articles in ‘Rules of Rabbula for the Monks’, Canon 7, in Vodbus, Syriac and
Arabic documentsy 28. Little is known about the iron mines and prices. Its export was
prohibited in the 4th c. Mines are known to have existed in the Cappadocian Taurus and
near Germaniceia in Cilicia II, but their ore was of little use in the immediate crisis.
Jones, LRE 827, 838. Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 157. Iron from the latter doubtless went for
weapons production at the fabrica in Caesarea.

TRANSLATION

engage all the Persians, he took his remaining forces and attacked their

283

garrison at Theodosiopolis, destroying it and taking (back) the city.

Kawad (meanwhile) was still attacking Amid, struggling and
working to restore the mound which had collapsed. He ordered the
Persians [279] to fill (it) up with stones and wood, and to bring
materials (made) of hair, wool, or linen, make them up like food-bags
or sacks, fill them with soil, and build them up on top of the mound
which they had made, so that it might be swiftly raised against the wall.

The Amidenes then devised a contraption which the Persians called

286

‘the striker’, because it impeded all their work and devastated them.
With this contraption the Amidenes could hurl enormous stones each
weighing more than three hundred pounds, and as a result the cotton
covering under which the Persians sheltered was burst, and those who
were standing under it were crushed. The battering ram was also

Procopius mentions Anastasius* rebuilding of Theodosiopolis-Erzerum ‘not much
later’ (ov ttoXXoj) than its capture by Kawad in August 502. The work must have begun
immediately after its recapture. A single circuit wall whose curtain rose to 30 feet was
built without a ditch or outer wall (out€ ydp TTpoTeixtap-a ouxe Td(j)po 9 auxo) fip.uvev).
Justinian is said to have added the latter. It later became the headquarters of a new
command, the magister militum per Armeniam, which Justinian created in 528. De
Aedificiis 3.5.4-12. Jones, LRE, 271 and 1124, n. 8. The configuration of the Justinianic
walls can be seen in an early 18th c. print at T. Stoianovich, ‘Prospective: third and
fourth levels of history’. Between East and West. The Balkan and Mediterranean Worlds
IV (New Rochelle, 1995), 94. Fig. 32. The town has double walls, many square and
some triangular towers, and an acropolis with at least one hexagonal tower. Other
features seem to belong to later, medieval construction.

Procopius and ps.-Zachariah omit this phase of the siege from their accounts.

Builders of military machines (payyavaptoL) were sometimes civilians. Cf. IGRR III
1165 (Bostra, 274 A.D.).

T<uac\ (tubbaha, ‘striker’) is a Syriac word, but ps.-Joshua or his Amidene

informants may have heard the Persian word tapah (‘ruin’); cf Wright, transl. 42, note.
Persian and Turkic terminology for military equipment had a wide currency. A. D. H.
Bivar, ‘Cavalry equipment and tactics on the Euphrates frontier’, DOP 26 (1972), 291.
The Iranian word khandaq (‘ditch’) turns up later in Ibn Ishaq’s Sira of Muhammad. Cf
Avestan kan (‘dig’) and dakh{ma) (‘burial place’). H. Reichelt, Avestan Reader
(Strasbourg, 1911). We owe this suggestion to Peter Clark. Cf W. Montgomery Watt,
Muhammad at Medina (Oxford, 1956), 36f

7R7

The weapon in question was the onager^ a single-armed torsion engine, also known
as the Scorpio (‘scorpion’) from the overhead swing of its firing arm while releasing the
stone. At the siege of Amid in 359, the Romans massed their onagers to destroy the
Persian siege towers. Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 157-160. Ps.-Joshua’s
testimony about the weight of the projectiles appears to be unique.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

wrecked by the continuous, incessant barrage of stones.^^^ Indeed, the
Amidenes could not injure the Persians in any other way as much as by
the enormous stones, because the Persians had been pouring water on
the cotton covering which had been patched together many times
above <the mound>, and it could be damaged neither by arrows, on
account of its thickness, nor by fire, because it was wet. However,
these enormous stones launched from ‘the striker’ shattered both the
covering and the men and armaments (underneath it). Thus the
Persians were vanquished, abandoned work on the mound, and
considered returning to their own country, for in the three months they
had been besieging (Amid), fifty thousand of them had perished in the

290

battles that were fought daily, night and day.

The Amidenes, however, became confident of their victory, fell
into negligence, and did not guard the wall with the care that (they had
exercised) before. On the tenth of January, [280] the guards on the wall
drank much wine because of the cold, and when night came, (some) fell
asleep and sank into a deep slumber, while others abandoned their posts
because it was raining and went down to take shelter in their houses.
Whether by this ill-discipline,^^^ as we think, or by a treacherous

On rams, see above, n. 261.

perhaps read ‘folded’ (Wright).

The Persians and their allies were supposed to have lost some 30,000 men at the
siege of Amid in 359. Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 19.9.9.

Ps.-Joshua omits mentioning that Kawad sent to the city some three days before its
fall, asking for a payment in silver in return for abandoning the siege. It was refused by
the men directing the defence, including the chief city councillor Leontius (who seems
to have been at the head of the executive board), Cyrus, governor {hegemon) of
Mesopotamia, and Zenobius the steward (whether ecclesiatical or secular is uncertain).
They are said to have issued a counter-demand that Kawad reimburse the city for its loss
of the year’s vintage, wheat harvest and garden fruits in the territorium. Ps.-Zachariah of
Mytilene, HE lA (Ahrens-Kriiger 106f.). Cf. ‘Cyrus 5’, PLRE II, 336. No other source
reports this exchange of embassies. Cf. Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, 90 and n. 4.
The story is at first sight inconsistent with the fact that the imperial envoy Rufinus was
with Kawad during the siege. He would have been glad to hand over the gold he had left
in Caesarea, but this was intended to buy peace rather than the safety of a single city.
Above, § 50.

Another story, this one about ‘indiscipline’, was well-known, but ps.-Joshua avoids
repeating it. It concerned a thief and ‘trouble-maker’ called Qotranga, who used to enter
and leave Amid through the ‘small watercourses’ (i^^aamja) at a point on the west side of

the fortifications called the Tripyrgia or ‘Three Towers’. Ps.-Zachariah, HE lA
(Hamilton-Brooks, 156). In Brooks’ CSCO text and translation, he renders the Syriac
term as ‘aqueduct’ (text 26, line 3), but this is not consistent with Procopius, who

TRANSLATION

plot,^’^ as some have said, or whether as a punishment from God,^’”* the
Persians gained control of the wall of Amid (merely) with ladders,
while the gates were not opened nor the wall breached. They
ransacked the city and plundered its property; they also trampled on the

suggests that the ‘small watercourses’ were part of a sewer network by saying that the
Persians got into the city at ‘the mouth of an ancient underground passage’ (eKPoXf)v
UTTOvopou TraXaLou). The Sasanid kanarang (a special title normally given to the
commander of the northeastern frontier facing the Hephthalites) observed his activities
and followed him into the city with a detachment, getting control of one of the towers
and a section of the wall (ircbaToupa). Procopius, Wars 1.7.20-25. Cf. Christensen,
L ’Iran sous les sassanides, 107f., n. 3; Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, 90, n. 50.

Ps.-Joshua omits the detail that the guards at this point were monks of the monastery
of John of Urtaye, but is otherwise in agreement with ps.-Zachariah, HE 1A (Ahrens-
Kriiger 107). The latter observes that their hegumen was a Persian, as if to imply
culpability. Ps.-Joshua casts doubt on this theory about possible ‘treachery’. He quite
possibly enjoyed friendly relations with the monastery and did not wish to implicate the
monks in the catastrophe that followed. See next note. Theophanes and Marcellinus
Comes both accept the ‘treachery’ thesis. Chron. AM 5996 (Mango-Scott 224);
Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle 33f. The monastery of John of Urtaye lay just outside
the walls. John of Ephesus later interviewed survivors about their experiences during
and after the siege. ‘History of the Convent of John Urtaya’, Lives of the Eastern Saints
58 (Brooks, PO 19, 217-221). It is not surprising that the monks took an active part in
the defence. In Canon 7 of the monastic rules of Jacob of Edessa (ob. 708), no penalty is
laid on monks who are dragooned into manning stone-throwing artillery (r<a*j^^).

Vddbus, Syriac and Arabic documents, 96.

Kawad is alleged to have had a dream-vision of Christ promising to deliver the city
into his hands because of its sins. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 1A (Ahrens-Kruger 107, 110). This
story also turns up in the Chronicle of Seert with a Nestorian bias. Chronique de Seert,
seconde partie (I) 17 (Scher, PO 1, 132f.). Procopius puts a similar story into the mouth
of an ‘one of the Amidenes, an old man and priest’. Wars 1.7.30-31. Ps.-Joshua
devalues the different prophecies by including them in this general staement as one of
three possible ‘causes’.

For the Persian capture of one of the towers at the Tripyrgia, see above, n. 292. Once
again, ps.-Joshua passes over well-known events with little factual comment. After
seizing the tower, the Persians kept their foothold throughout the night, firing out of the
darkness wherever Roman torches were seen and seriously wounding the provincial
governor {hegemon) Cyrus, who was observing the battle. At dawn, fire from the
Roman-controlled towers and curtain created panic in the Persian ranks and drove the
new detachments that Kawad led forward back from the walls. As in 359, the Romans
seem to have massed the fire of onagers and ballistae against the captured tower.
Civilians meanwhile began to pull out the stones from the ceiling vaults of its bottom
story. The Persians fought their way along the pedaturae until they had seized five or six
towers, but it took two more nights’ fighting before they controlled the wall securely
enough to open the west gate. Only then were they able to descend into the city. Ps.-
Zachariah, HE 1A (Ahrens-Kruger 108f.). Procopius telescopes three nights’ fighting
into one, but is otherwise consistent. Wars 1.7.26-29.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

consecrated elements, broke up its church service, stripped its churches,
and led into captivity (all) its inhabitants except the old and the
disabled, and those who were in hiding.^^^ Leaving there a garrison of
three thousand men, (the rest) of them all went down to the Mount of
Singara. The Persians who remained (at Amid) took out the corpses
of the Amidenes, so as not to be tormented by the stench, and heaped
them up in two piles outside the North Gate. The number of those
they took out through the North Gate was more than eighty thousand,
excluding those whom they led out alive and stoned outside the city,
those whom they stabbed on the top of the mound they had made, those

296

Ps.-Zachariah generally agrees, but adds the detail that, after asking Kawad, a high-
ranking Christian from the Persian province of Arran in the Caucasus saved the Church
of the Forty Martyrs with the people who had taken refuge in it. HE 1A (Ahrens-Kriiger,
109). Cf Procopius, fVars 1.7.30-32, where ‘an old man and priest’ (lepeu?, a term the
historian invariably uses for ‘bishop’) allegedly halts the slaughter. If true, the story
refers to a refugee bishop, and not John metropolitan of Amid, who died shortly before
the siege began. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.3 (Hamilton-Brooks, 155). Ps.-Joshua omits this
detail. Among the other pre-503 churches were the Great Church, the monastic church of
John of Urtaye (outside the walls) and the martyrion of the Theotokos. The supposed 4th
c. date of the twin-domed Nestorian monastic church in the acropolis is based on local
legend. Van Berchem-Strzygowski, y4/wzV/fl, 165f, 173.

The Mount of Singara (Jabal Sinjar) is a 130 km. long massif lying in Sasanid
territory southeast of Nisibis. Late Roman Singara (now under Persian control) lies on its
south slope. Cf below, §§ 55, 69. Nestorian monks had cells on its slopes later in the 6th
c. Chronique de Seert, seconde partie (II) 61 (Scher, PO 13, 469f). The Chronicle of
Seert puts the captives’ eventual settlement near Seleucia in Khuzistan. Ibid., seconde
partie (I) (Scher, PO 7, 133). A Sasanid seal indicates that the captives were resettled at
a site (variously named as Ram-Kawad and Veh-az-Amid-Kawad) on the border
between Khuzistan and Pars, viz. southeastern Mesopotamia. E. Kettenhofen,
‘Deportations ii. In the Parthian and Sasanian Periods’, Encyclopaedia Iranica VII 300.
Cf Greatrex, Rome and Persia at War, 93. Non-portable booty like columns taken from
buildings, marble sun-dials and the like, were shipped down the Tigris on boats. Ps.-
Zachariah fails to specify the destination of the army. HE 7.4 (Ahrens-Kriiger, 110).
The latter also puts the garrison (evidently made up of picked men) at 3,000. Procopius’
figure of 1,000 is therefore suspect {Wars 1.7.33). The spahbad Glon and two marzbans
commanded the force. Two city councillors, John bar Habhallaha and Sergius bar
Zabhduni, were put in charge of the civil population. HE 7.5 (Ahrens-Kruger, 112;
Hamilton-Brooks, 159f). For spahbad (Syriac astabid), see below, § 59 n. 361.

298

The North Gate (present-day Kharput Gate) is still extant. It (but not the the round
towers) is of pre-Islamic and probably 4th c. construction. Van Berchem-Strzygowski,
Amida, 286f, Fig. 232. Cf above, n. 254.

TRANSLATION

they threw into the Tigris, and those who met their deaths in all the

299

(other) ways which we cannot describe.

Kawad then released Rufinus to go and tell the emperor what had
happened. (Rufinus) spoke about the agonies (of Amid) in every place
(he went), and as a result of these reports the cities east of the Euphrates
were thrown into turmoil. (People) prepared to flee westwards, but the
respected Jacob, the periodeutes,^^ [281] who composed many memre
on sections^^^ of the Scriptures and sogyatha and songs^^^ on the time
of the locusts,^^^ did not neglect his duty at that time. He wrote letters

Ps.-Zachariah concurs with the figure of c. 80,000, but differs as to the location of the
dead. He also gives various details about the disposition of high-ranking captives and
the plunder taken from the churches. One thing ps.-Joshua ‘could not describe’ was
perhaps the degrading treatment given Leontius the protobouleutes and Cyrus the
governor, whom Kawad is said to have had ordered to be dressed in rags, tied by their
necks, to carry sows, and be led through the streets. Certain senior commanders in the
Persian army asked Kawad to hand over one-tenth of the captives to them, arguing that
the death of so many of their relatives during the siege had to be requited. The Persians
then murdered the captives with a variety of techniques that none of our sources had the
stomach to report. HE lA (Ahrens-Kruger, 109-111; Hamilton-Brooks, 159f.). All
sources agree that there were many survivors. Cf Procopius, Wars 1.7.32.

r^o.icuta (‘periodeutes’) in margin. The periodeutes was a cleric holding equivalent

rank to a presbyter who supervised churches in the territorium of a city. Their functions
were practically identical with those of the chorepiskopoi (lit. ‘rural bishops’).
Inscriptions attest their activity in the Syrian provinces in tasks like constructing the stoa
for a church, supervising the laying of mosaics, and even constructing a tower. Their
functions were eventually handed over to the village presbyters. IGLS, nos. 389
(Fafirtin, Syria I, 372 A.D.), 421 (Althaka, Syria I, late 5th c.), 460 (Zerzita, Syria I,
375/6 A.D.), 733 (Arsus, Cilicia II, 5th c.), 1405 (Megara, Syria II, 5th c.), 1726 (Tell
Khazneh, Syria 11, 562/3 A.D.), 1935 (Zeboudis?, Syria II, n.d.). G. Tchalenko, Villages
antiques de la Syrie du Nord III (Paris, 1958), nos. 39b, 39f. Cf. H. Leclercq,
‘Periodeute’, DACL XIV 369-379. For Arabia, cf Trombley, HRC II 326, 339, 352, 354,
373.

i^oama. (‘sections’).

(‘songs’).

Jacob of Serug, who died in 521 aged 70, was an outstanding Syriac writer of the
period, especially in verse. He was educated at Edessa, and by 502/3 was periodeutes at
Haura in Serug. In 518/9 he became bishop of Batnan, the principal town in Serug. For
his extant memre (‘homilies’) on biblical themes, cf. A. Baumstark, Geschichte der
syrischen Literatur (Bonn, 1922), pp. 151-156. For his extant sogyatha (‘songs’) and
poems in other musical forms, cf. ibid., p. 149; we have not been able to identify those
mentioned by ps.-Joshua ‘on the time of the locusts’. There is a memra on the desolation
of Amid in British Library MS. Add. 14588, foil. 100r-108r (cf. Wright, Catalogue of the
Syriac MSS. in the British Museum, 807) and elsewhere, but as it is unedited, it is not

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

of exhortation to all the cities, encouraging (people) to trust in divine
salvation and not to flee.^®"*

When the emperor Anastasius heard (the news), he despatched a
large Roman army to spend the winter in these cities and guard them.
For Kawad, however, all the booty and captives he had taken were not
enough, and he was not satisfied with the huge amount of blood he had
shed. On the contrary, he (again) sent envoys to the emperor with
the message, ‘Send me the gold, or accept war!’ This was in April, but
the emperor did not send the gold and instead made ready to exact
retribution and avenge those who had perished. In May he sent three
commanders against (Kawad), (namely) Areobindus, Patricius, and
Hypatius, and many officers along with them. Areobindus came

known whether Jacob refers in it to the ‘desolation’ produced by the locusts as well as
that produced by the Persians.

His letter to Edessa: Jacob of Serug, Letter 20 (ed. Olinder, pp. 129-135). According
to this letter, the citizens of Edessa cited Jeremiah 18 : 7-10 in support of their wish to
flee. Jacob replied that this was a threat, and that threats are designed to produce
repentance from evil. By contrast, the word of Christ to Abgar (§§ 5, 36, 58, 60) was a
promise, and God does not retract his promises. On the problem of civil morale and
flight from the zone of operations in the 6th c. wars, see F. R. Trombley, ‘War and
society in rural Syria’, 154-209 passim.

305 • ^

The troops gave the civil population a sense of security, but must also have acted as a
police force to prevent migration en masse. They would have arrived between late
January and March 503.

This would become a topos during the 6th c. wars in Syria; e.g. F. R. Trombley,
‘War, society and popular religion in Byzantine Anatolia (6th-13th centuries)’,
Byzantine Asia Minor (6th-12th cent.), edd. N. Oikonomides and S. Vryonis (Athens,
1998), 100-113.

‘Areobindus 1’, ‘Hypatius 6’, ‘Patricius 14’, PLRE II 143-145, 577-581, 840-842.
Theophanes’ list of officers is more complete, but their ranks and commands are not
always given. Chron. AM 5997 (Mango-Scott, 225f. and notes). Cf. Procopius’ list at
Wars 1.8.1-3, where Celer is mistakenly included in the group that first arrived, but cf
his correction at 1.8.10: ‘for Celer had not yet arrived there [viz. at Ashparin-Sifrios near
Amid where Patricius and Hypatius had camped].’ Ps.-Joshua’s chronology makes it
clear that Celer did not appear on the scene until autumn 503 after the fiasco at Opadna.
See below, § 64. Patricius was, as it seems, commander of the ‘first’ (‘great’) praesental
army, Hypatius of the ‘second’: HaTpiKLOi/, aTpaTT]XdTr|v tou fieydXou TTpaiaevrou,
Kar YirdTTiv, OTpaTiiXdTriv TTpaiaevrou. John Malalas, Chronographia, 398, line 20f
Cf Not. Dign. Or. V and VI (Seeck, 11-18). Cf G. Greatrex, ‘Flavius Hypatius, quern
vidit validum Parthus sensitque timendum\ Byzantion 66 (1996), 124f. The Goths
mentioned by Procopius’ and Theophanes’ source may have served in formations like
the equites V, VI and IX Dalmatae, and the palatine legions and auxilia. Ibid., Or. V 36,
37; Or. VI 37 (early 5th c.). The arrival of the two praesental armies in the winter of 503,

TRANSLATION

down and pitched camp on the border near Dara and ‘ Ammudin, facing
Nisibis;^®^ he had twelve thousand men.^°^ Patricius and Hypatius laid
siege to Amid, (intending) to drive out the Persian garrison from there;
they had (an army of) forty thousand. The hyparch Appion came
down at this time and stayed in Edessa in order to look after the
supplies for the Roman forces with them. Since the bakers could not

followed by Celer’s force the following autumn, does not entirely corroborate
Procopius’ statement that the mobilisation was delayed and leisurely. Wars 1.8.3-6.

From the ‘Ammudin-Dara position, Areobindus could cover eastern Osrhoene or, if
necessary, ride for Amid across western Tur ‘Abdin ( viz. following Dillemann’s Route
1). See Map II. It depended on which invasion route Kawad would take in spring 503.
Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie^ Fig. XVIII. Procopius’ supposition that the three
armies were supposed to invade Persian territory at once is mistaken. Wars 1.8.7.

Areobindus, magister militum per Orientem, had the best troops with him. For the
early 5th c. order of battle of this command, see Not. Dign. Or. VII (Seeck, 19-22). Its
make-up had probably not changed much by the early 6th c. For example, the equites III
Dalmatae remained under the magister militum until the reign of Justinian, when it was
at length placed at the disposal of the dux of Phoenice Libanensis. Ibid., Or. VII 27.
Jones, LRE, 661. It is quite possible that the three numeri of clibanarii had been re¬
equipped with lighter armour and weapons by the time of the Persian War of 502-506.
Ibid., Or. VII 31,32, 34.

The concentration of three such armies was unprecedented in recent history. The total
of some 52,000 men did not include the provincial troops under the duces of the
provinces of Oriens and their Arab allies. Although they suffered defeats because of
poor cooperation and dispersion, the armies stabilised the defences of northern
Mesopotamia and ended its systematic depopulation. Procopius observes: ‘They say that
such an army was never assembled by the Romans and Persians either before or after
that time.’ Wars 1.8.4 (Dewing I 63).

From hyparchos, the Greek technical term for praetorian prefect.

A mid-6th c. procedure for organising supplies of military biscuit {bucellum,
pouKeXXarou) for campaign is noted at Jones, LRE, 673f. See next note. Appion held the
title patricius and was newly appointed praefectus praetorio Orientis vacans - agens
vices praefecturae praetorianae early in 503 to handle the supply problems of the large
armies concentrating in Oriens. ‘Appion 2’, PLRE II 11 If. Cf. Malalas, Chronographia,
398, line 22. Procopius and Theophanes shared a common source that neither has
transmitted accurately. Theophanes’ observation that Appion was ‘second in command
of the army and in charge of supplies and general supervision’ raises difficulties in view
of the tripartite command structure, the presence of the army of Oriens and the two
praesental armies all in the zone of operations. Chron. AM 5997 (Mango-Scott, 226).
Similarly, Procopius has it that ‘the emperor stated in a written document that [Appion]
was a partner in imperial power (kolvcovo? rq? PaaiXeia?) so that he might have
authority to manage expenditures as he wished.* This seems to be merely an Atticist
summary of Appion’s duties as praetorian prefect vacans. Areobindus evidently enjoyed
overall military command because of Patricius* and Hypatius’ inexperience, and had
Appion as his immediate subordinate. For Appion’s later activities, cf. below, § 70.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

make enough bread, he gave orders for wheat to be supplied to all the
households in Edessa and for them to make the boukellaton at their
own expense. On the first occasion the Edessenes produced six

314

hundred and thirty thousand modii.

When Kawad saw [282] that Areobindus’ troops were few, he sent
against them the army which was with him in Singara, (which consisted
of) twenty thousand Persians. Areobindus, however, repeatedly
chased them off until they were pushed back to the gate of Nisibis,
while many of those fleeing in the rout were suffocated at the gate as
they pushed to get in. During July, however, the Huns and Tayyaye
joined the Persians to move against (Areobindus) under the leadership

316 ^

of Constantine. When (Areobindus) learnt of this from (his) scouts,
he sent Calliopius the Aleppine to Patricius and Hypatius, saying,
‘Come here and give me your help, for a large force is about to attack

317

us.’ They paid no attention, however, but remained in their positions

313

Latin bucellatum, Greek pouKeXXarou, ‘soldiers’ bread’. It was a less perishable
substitute for bread (‘biscuit’) suitable for use in the zone of operations, along with salt
pork, sour wine, and oil. Papyri give figures for a substantial peacetime daily portion of
3 librae bread, 2 librae meat, 2 xestae of wine and 1/8 xestae of oil. Jones, LREy 628f.
and 1261 f, n. 44. Rations of this size did not prevail on campaign. See next note.

The task of baking bucellatum was forced labour and as such an ayyapeia or munus
sordidum. It normally fell upon the bakers’ collegium and wealthy landowners. The fact
that the work was doled out to the citizens at large was partly a consequence of the large
number of troops that had been concentrated at Edessa in the emergency. Cf Jones,
LRE, 629. See previous two notes.

Singara (present-day Balad Sinjar) remained an important city after its cession to
Persia in 363, with extensive pasture on Jabal Sinjar. The captives of Amid were
temporarily settled on its slopes in January 503. § 53. Cf. Isaac, Limits of Empire, 252.
Singara’s Late Roman towers, curtain wall and one gate are still in evidence. D. Oates,
Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq (London, 1968), 97-106. Figs. 8-12.
Plates VII-XII. For an aerial photo, see the literature referred to below, n. 420.

Cf § 48. Many of the Huns were Hephthalite mercenaries. The presence of ‘other’
Huns from the Caucasus cannot be excluded. It is possible that the marzban of the Arran
satrapy had moved into the zone of operations. The Arabs of the Lakhmid federation
came up after wintering at al-Hira on the middle Euphrates. Procopius fails to mention
the initial stages of the fighting between May and July, which all went to the Romans’
advantage. Wars 1.8.8.

317

Viz. Areobindus’ scouts observed the Huns’ and Lakhmids’ junction with Persians
outside Nisibis and Singara; in response, he sent for Patricius and Hypatius hoping to
concentrate all the Roman forces against them, but the attack came more quickly than
anticipated. This contradicts Procopius’ claim that Kawad caught Areobindus by
surprise. Procopius’ chronology has got events out of sequence: he has Kawad ‘moving
against them with his whole force’ (which did not occur until July 503) and Areobindus

TRANSLATION

at Amid.^^^ When the Persians attacked Areobindus’ troops, they were
unable to withstand them, but abandoned their camp and fled to Telia
and Edessa.^^^ All their baggage was plundered and carried away.

(Meanwhile) the troops of Patricius and Hypatius had been building
three wooden towers to scale the wall of Amid.^^^ When at great
expense the construction of the towers had been completed, and they
had been protected with iron so as not to be damaged by anything, the
news reached them of what had happened on the border. They
(therefore) set fire to the towers and left there, giving chase to the
Persians but not catching them.^^^ One of the officers, whose name

‘accordingly’ encamping against him at Arzamon (sic) (which happened before this, in
May-June 503). Wars 1.8.9-10. Cf. above, § 54. Patricius and Hypatius were expected, it
seems, to take the highway leading across the western edge of Tur ‘Abdin directly to
‘Ammudin, a distance of c. 125 km. and several days’ march. Cf. Dillemann, Haute
Mesopotamie, 147-162. Figs. XVII, XVII, XX. They eventually marched south, but only
after they heard of Areobindus’ defeat. Below, § 57. For details of Calliopius’ later
career, see below, § 70.

Patricius and Hypatius were delayed because of a planned coup de main against the
Persian garrison. Below, § 56.

Cf Procopius, Wars 1.8.11. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.5 (Hamilton-Brooks, 161). These
writers make no mention of Areobindus’ call for help from Patricius and Hypatius, and
give the impression that the Roman armies were not far apart. Ps.-Joshua is emphatic,
however, that the two generals did not break up the siege at Amid until word came of
Areobindus’ defeat. Below, § 57. The Persians probably did not dislodge Areobindus
from the ‘ Ammudin-Dara position before late July (above), whereas the battle of Opadna
seems not to have taken place until sometime in August 503. Below, § 57.

It is impossible to reconcile this with Procopius’ claim that the two generals
concentrated their troops at Ashparin-Sifrios (location unknown), which he puts at some
90 km. (more than 350 stadia) from Amid, and that Patricius and Hypatius did not wish
to besiege Amid, but planned to invade Persia at once. Wars 1.8.7-10. Cf. Dillemann,
Haute Mesopotamie, 314 and 293, Fig. XXXVIII, who does not insist on the difficulty.
On mobile towers, see the brief remarks of Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 162f.

The besiegers tried to break into the city by setting fire to the gate near the church of
Mar Z‘ura, but the assault failed after the Persians shut the gate. It was evidently not
seriously damaged. Ps. Zachariah, HE 1A (Hamilton-Brooks, 160).

Patricius and Hypatius at first hesitated to move to Areobindus’ aid lest the labour
and iron plating expended on the siege towers be wasted. They were probably hoping for
a quick assault on Amid, whose defenders they outnumbered by ten to one. After the
debacle at ‘Ammudin, and with the small forts, villages and transhumant camps of
Osrhoene east of Tella-Constantina open to Sasanid attack, they went to Areobindus’ aid
with part of their force. This belated manoeuvre prevented an immediate Persian
advance on Tella-Constantina. Ps.-Zachariah’s report at HE 7.5 (Hamilton-Brooks, 161)
that Hypatius had gone off to join Areobindus for an attack on Nisibis is probably a
misinterpretation of troop movements that ps.-Joshua describes in greater detail in § 54-

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

was Pharazman, and another by the name of Theodore/^^ cunningly
sent a flock of sheep to pass by near Amid while they and their troops
lay in ambush. When the Persians inside Amid saw the flock, about
four hundred selected men of them went out to seize it. The Romans
who were lying in ambush came up and crushed them, capturing their
leader alive. [283] He promised to deliver Amid to them, and Patricius
and Hypatius therefore returned there, but when that marzban was
unable to fulfil his promise, because those inside the city were not
persuaded by him, the stratelatai ordered him to be strung up.

The Persian Tayyaye advanced to the (river) Khabur, but
Timostratus, the dux of Callinicum, went out against them [and
defeated them].^^^ The Roman Tayyaye,^^^ who are called

55. Areobindus’ main task was not to attack Nisibis, but to protect Patricius’ and
Hypatius’ siege of Amid by covering the roads across Tur ‘Abdin from the Dara-
‘Ammudin position. Areobindus, aiming at the complete destruction of the force Kawad
had sent up from Singara, pursued them all the way to the gates of Nisibis, Ps.-Joshua, §
55. This is quite far from attempting a coup de main against the city.

‘Pharesmanes 3’, ‘Theodorus 53’, PLRE II, 872f., 1095. The two generals evidently
left Pharazman behind with 500 men for the purpose of disputing control of Amid’s
territorium with the Persians inside the city. His aggressive patrols terrorised the enemy.
On one occasion, he killed some Persians who had ventured into villages outside the
fortifications and captured their animals. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.5 (Hamilton-Brooks, 161).
Pharazman was evidently operating from a fortified camp concealed in the hills around
Amid.

324

This is a similar but separate incident from the ambush and killing of the Persian
garrison commander Glon found at ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.5 (Hamilton-Brooks, 161f) and
Procopius, Wars 1.9.5-17, for Glon held the rank of spahbad and cannot therefore be the
marzban mentioned by ps.-Joshua. Procopius puts the ambush of Glon at Thilasamon,
which he says lay in a hilly, wooded area some 11 km. (40 stadia) from Amid (not
identified by Dillemann). He mentions that Roman soldiers were roaming about, raiding
the villages in its territorium, and that the ambush was set up by a provincial acting on
Patricius’ behalf, who lured Glon outside the city with the promise of catching Roman
troops dispersed into small groups. Ps.-.Zachariah calls the site of the battle ,

perhaps ‘fold of the shepherds’. Ps.-Zachariah’s figure of 400 men in Glon’s force is
preferable to Procopius’ 200, because he got the story directly from the instigator of the
ambush, a certain Gadono of Akhore. The latter was a hunter and fisherman who used to
bring game to the Persian spahbad. Gadono manipulated Glon with false intelligence
about the whereabouts of Roman foraging parties to set up the trap.

Timostratus was dux of Osrhroene. ‘Timostratus’, PLRE II, 1119f He evidently
intercepted the Lakhmids as they moved southwestward in the general direction of
Harran, planning to slip past south of Resh‘aina-Theodosiopolis into the gap between
Tektek Dagh and Jabal ‘Abd al-‘Aziz. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie,
106, Fig. XI. Many cavalry formations were billeted in this general area. Not. Dign. Or.
XXXV 16-18, 23. A show of force may have persuaded the Arabs to retire, as no battle

TRANSLATION

Tha‘labites, went towards Hirta, (the residence) of Nu‘man, and

328

came across a caravan going up to him and camels taking ? up to
him. They attacked and destroyed them, and seized the camels, but
they did not attack Hirta itself, because (its population) had gone into
the inner desert.^^^ The entire (enemy) army of Persians, Huns,

is reported. Timostratus was probably covering the great southern bend of the Euphrates,
whose towns were exposed to attack while other commanders like Romanus, the dux of
Palaestina, were operating with their provincial numeri in Areobindus’ force at this time.
Theophanes is explicit about this. Chron. AM 5990 (Mango-Scott, 217). The
preponderance of evidence suggests that the Lakhmids* cavalry were a lighter type than
that in the Roman vexillations in the late 5th c. and were certainly not like the Sasanid
clibanarii. Cf the examples of pre-Islamic arms and armour illustrated in D. Nicolle,
‘Arms of the Umayyad era: military technology in a time of change’, War and Society in
the Eastern Mediterranean, 7th~15th Centuries, ed. Y. Lev (Leiden, 1997), 9-73, nos.
19A-E, 36, 52A-C, 60A-E, 88, etc. The Arabic sources mention two formations with
Persian names that the Sasanid kings equipped and put at the disposal of the Lakhmid
kings, the Dawsar and Shahba’. The Dawsar consisted of Tanukhid Arabs, the Shahba’
of Persians. The latter seem to have been clibanarii, to judge from their name shahba ',
‘blazing, shining, grey’. Rothstein, Lahmiden in al-Hira, 134-136. The word
clibanarius probably comes from the Iranian griwbanar, meaning ‘neck-guard wearer’.
Shahbazi, ‘Army I. Pre-Islamic Iran’, Encyclopaedia Iranica II 496, the neck-guard
being an important element in their heavy armour.

An Arab allied to the Romans and bearing the titles of comes and phylarch is attested
in 465/6 A.D. SEG 43, no. 1088 (Dhakir, Arabia).

Fearing the consolidation of all the Arabs of the Syrian desert under the Sasanids (or,
more properly, the Lakhmid Nu‘man II) after a decade of chaos, Anastasius negotiated a
treaty of military cooperation with the Arab shaykhs Harith of the Banu Kinda and
Harith b. Tha‘laba not long before the outbreak of war with Persia. The latter was made
king and became the first Ghassanid phylarch. In a summary of reciprocal terms that
appears in the Arabic writer Ibn Habib, the Roman government promises Harith b.
Tha‘laba military aid if he is attacked, in return for a guarantee of non-interference in a
war between itself and the Persians. These are the ‘Roman Tayyaye’ ps.-Joshua has in
mind. Shahid, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century I 3-12. The treaty entitled
Harith b. Tha‘laba, among other things, to draw grain from imperial depots (annonae
foederaticae). Jones, LRE, 611. Theophanes’ chronology of the War of 502-506 is
usually off by at least a year. His date for the treaty needs to be put back a year to 501/2
(viz. 1 September 501 to 31 August 502). Chron. AM 5995 (Mango-Scott, 222f. and
notes). Cf. above, § 24.

iujo. or Alluj. Unknown, possibly corrupt. According to Wright, ‘it is evidently the
name of some valuable commodity’. Brockelmann, Lexicon, 243 and 301: read? rdu*,
lavsonia inermis (name of a plant dye). Dolabani:.\-jj = , ‘wheat’.

Viz. instead of crossing to the east bank of the Euphrates. See Map III. Although the
Lakhmid kings were pagan until the late 6th c., Hirta (Arabic al-Hira) had a Christian
bishop and a 4th c. monastery, along with sedentary Arab and Christian Syrian villages
nearby. Viticulture was sufficiently well developed for wine to be exported. Chronique

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

Qadishaye, and Armenians assembled again in August and advanced as

330

far as Opadna. Patricius’ men heard (of this) and made to go against
them, but while the Romans were still on the march and had not yet
drawn up in battle formation, the Persians met the vanguard and hit
them. When those who had been struck retreated, the rest of the
Roman army saw that the vanguard had been hit. Fear took hold of
them and they did not stand to fight, but Patricius was the first to turn
tail and his entire army followed, crossing the river Euphrates and
seeking safety at the city of Samosata.^^^ In this battle, Nu‘man, king

de Seen, Seconde partie (II) 91 (Scher, PO 13, 549). Rothstein, Lahmiden in al-Hira,
18-27, 51,64.1. Shahid and A. Beeston, ‘al-Hira’, El III 462f.

330

Viz. detachments of Persian troops and their allies had pursued Areobindus’ force
westward as far as Tella-Constantina. They were scattered all over the ‘Arab and were
now concentrated once again into a single body. Cf. above, § 55. Opadna or Apadna
(present-day Tell Harzem) is c. 40 km. west of the ‘Ammudin-Dara position on the road
Patricius’ force had taken from Amid. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie,
293. Figs. VI and XXXVIII.

Viz. the Roman main body did not have time to switch from column of march to line
of battle before the Persians struck. Procopius reports that the praesental armies
destroyed a force of 800 Hephthalites before making contact with the Persian main
body. This, and the story that Kawad’s troops caught the Romans encamped by the
Arzamon river cooking and eating (once again derived from a Persian source), cannot
easily be reconciled with ps.-Joshua’s version of events. Wars 1.8.13-18. One of the
excerpts of the Sasanid tactical manual quoted in the Ay in-name (mid-6th c.) advises:
‘And let the vanguards pass over even places and halt on heights, and not pass any
locality without having explored the same minutely.’ Elsewhere it observes that the best
time to hit the enemy is when he feels satisfied, after quenching his thirst and watering
his horses. Inostrancev, ‘The Sasanian military theory’, 14.

332

I.e. they took the military road (Dillemann’s Route 4) which runs along the southern
edge of Mt. Aisouma, past Tella-Constantina, across Tektek Dagh, and past Edessa, a
distance of over 300 km. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute MesopotamiCy 148f. Figs.
XVII-XVIII. The geographical extent of the retreat and its failure to halt at the cities
along the route suggests Patricius’ troops had ceased to exist as a fighting force, but
could be counted on at best to sit behind the important bridges at Samosata, preventing
the Persians from crossing into Euphratesia. Procopius observes: ‘And they say that not
a man escaped from there.’ Wars 1.8.18-19. Ps.-Joshua contradicts this, reporting that
Patricius had many of the same men with him near Amid in the winter of 503/4. Cf.
below, § 66 for their low morale. Samosata was the final stage on the military highway
across Anatolia. It ran from Nicomedia to Caesarea in Cappadocia I where a fabrica for
cavalry equipment existed. For 4th c. evidence on the bridges at Samosata, see F. R.
Trombley, ‘Ammianus Marcellinus and fourth-century warfare: a protector's approach
to historical narrative’. The Late Roman World and its Historian: Interpreting Ammianus
Marcellinus^ edd. J. W. Drijvers and D. Hunt (London, 1999), 23f For the site, see V.

TRANSLATION

of the Persian Tayyaye, was wounded, while one of the Roman officers,

333

whose name was Peter, fled to the fortress of Ashparin. When the
Persians surrounded the fortress, its inhabitants were frightened of them
and handed him over to them. The Persians took him away captive
and [284] killed the soldiers who were with him, but they did not harm
the inhabitants of the fortress in any way.

Kawad, king of the Persians, (now) considered coming against

335 336

Areobindus at Edessa. The Tayy king Nu‘man was also urging

337

him on because of what had happened to his caravan, but a tribal
chief from Nu‘man’s (city of) Hirta who was a Christian said, ‘Your
majesty should not trouble to go to war against Edessa, for over it there
is an irrevocable declaration of Christ whom they worship, that no
enemy shall ever gain control of it.’^^^ When Nu‘man heard this, he
threatened to do worse evils in Edessa than those done in Amid and
spoke blasphemous words. Then indeed Christ exhibited a manifest

Chapot, La Frontiere de VEuphrate de Pompee a la conquete arabe (Paris, 1907), 270
(map). Cf. A. Kazhdan, ‘Samosata’, ODB^ 1836. ‘Samosata’, PECS, 803f.

Also known as Sifrios and Isfrios (location unknown). Cf. above, § 56, n. 320 and
Map II. Dillemann conjectures it lay in the foothills at the southwest comer of Tur
‘Abdin, just north of his Route 4. Haute Mesopotamie, 329. Figs. XI, XVII-XVIII.
Nu‘man and his Lakhmid force evidently joined Kawad’s main body at the same time as
the other ethnic contingents (Huns, Qadishaye, Armenians, Arabs, etc.). § 48, 51, 55, 57,
59, 62 and notes. Peter’s force probably consisted of cavalry vexillations from Patricius’
praesental army, and he would therefore have held the rank of comes. Cf. § 58. He
probably hoped to elude the Persians by taking a different route from the rest of the
army, sheltering in the fortress for a while, and later resuming his escape westward.
There is no mention of Ashparin or Sifrios in Not. Dign. Or. XXXV-XXXVI (Osrhoene
and Mesopotamia).

The Persians appear to have negotiated directly with the curiales, using a
combination of terror and cajolery, a practice consistent with the recommendation of the
mid-6th c. tactical manual excerpted in the Ayin-name. It advises the Sasanid general to
subvert the defenders of fortresses by firing arrows inside the enceinte, with messages
attached to them warning that part of the population has been bribed and is ready to
surrender. Inostrancev, ‘The Sasanian military theory’, 16.

The investment of Edessa in 503 turns up as a historical digression devoid of
significant detail in Procopius’ account of Khusrau I’s invasion of Syria I and II,
Euphratesia and Osrhoene in 540. Wars 2.13.8-11.

Cf. above, § 22, n. 98.

Cf above, § 57.

The ‘promise to Abgar’. Cf §§ 5,36,60.

The ‘blasphemy’ was a consequence of the fact that the Lakhmid kings of al-Hira
were pagan until the late 6th c. Their principal cult was to the evening star, the divinity
al-Zuhra or al-‘Uzza, who was the Arab cognate of the Greek Aphrodite. She was at

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

340

suffered on his head swelled up and his whole skull became
inflamed. He retired to his tent, remained in this distress for two days,
and died. However, not even this sign restrained the audacity of Kawad
from his evil intent. Instead, he installed a king in place of Nu‘man and

341

went off (again) to war.

342

When he reached Telia, he laid siege to it. The Jews there planned
to deliver the city to <him> and in the tower of their synagogue, which
they were responsible for guarding, they dug a tunnel. They told the
Persians about it, so that they could dig through to it (from their side)
and get in by it, but this became known to comes Peter who was in

times the object of human sacrifice; e.g., ps.-Zachariah, HE 8.5 (Ahrens-Kriiger, 157f.);
Chronique de Seert, seconde partie (I) 18 (Scher, PO 7, 133), etc.

Cf. above, § 57.

Nu‘man’s immediate successor was Abu Ja‘fur b. Alqama, who was not a member of
the Lakhmid royal family. He was evidently a politically reliable and militarily
competent leader whom Kawad could count on to keep the Lakhmid shaykhs in the war
zone. He ruled approximately A.D. 503-505, and was succeeded by al-Mundhir III (c.
505-554). Rothstein, Lahmiden in aUHira^ 70f., 74f., 79.

Kawad took the military road westward to Telia. See Map II. Cf. § 54, n. 308. For

archaeological details of the Late Roman site, see G. Bell, The Churches and

Monasteries of the Tur ‘Abdin, ed. M. Mundell Mango (London, 1982), 154-157.

Procopius’ chronology is mistaken, putting the investment of Telia in 503 after that of

Edessa. He fails to report any military operations against the fortifications. Wars 2.13.8-

11 .

343

Procopius omits the story of the Jews of Telia. The synagogue was evidently built
hard against the fortifications. The Jews of cities, like urban trades guilds {collegia),
were often assigned a pedatura, that is a section of the circuit wall with its tower(s) to
guard in time of siege and to keep in good repair in peacetime. On this, see Isaac, Limits
of Empire, 363. Cf E. Popescu, Inscriptiile grecesti si latine din secolele IV-XIII
descoperite in Romania (Bucharest, 1976), no. 211. This would explain the Jewish
leaders’ ability to act in secrecy. Anastasius seems not to have issued any laws vis-a-vis
the Jews of the empire. Cf Linder, The Jews in Roman Imperial Legislation, passim. An
incident a decade earlier may have intensified the Syrian Jews* feelings of insecurity
under the Christian empire. On 9 July 492, during the celebration of the Olympia at
Antioch, the charioteer Calliopas accompanied a mob to the suburb of Daphne where
they burned down the synagogue, plundered its service vessels and scriptures, and killed
‘many people’, most of whom must have been the local Jews. They then ‘raised the
cross’ (TrqfavTe? CKel tov Tipiov axaupov ...) on the ruin and converted it into a
martyrion of St. Leontius. Although officials were sent with a force of Goths to punish
the rioters, it is unlikely that the Jews recovered their building or got compensation.
John Malalas, Chronographia, 396, lines 4-12. It would not be surprising if the Jews of
Tella-Constantina had preferred Sasanid rule.

TRANSLATION

344

captivity. He persuaded those guarding him to let him approach the
wall, saying that he wanted to urge the Tellenes to give him various
clothes and chattels of his which he had left in the city. The guards
agreed and took him to (the wall), and he told the soldiers standing on
[285] it to call comes Leontius, who at that time was guarding the
city. They summoned him and the officers, and Peter spoke with

347

them in the language of the Romans, telling them about the plot of
the Jews. To keep the Persians in ignorance about the (real) matter, he
asked (the officers) to give him a change of clothes. Initially, they
pretended to be annoyed with him; they [then threw down] to him from
the wall a change of clothes, because [in truth] he did indeed need
(some) clothes to put on. Subsequently they went down from the wall
and, as if they were quite unaware of the plot of the Jews and did not
know that this was the place, they went round the whole wall
examining its foundations, as though they were wanting to see if it
needed any repairs. They did this for Peter’s sake, so that the Persians
would not discover that he had disclosed the matter, and therefore
inflict additional hardships on him. Eventually they came to the place
where the Jews were on guard, and found that it had been undermined.
Inside the tower a large tunnel had been made ready by (the Jews), just
as they had been told. When the Romans saw that it was there, they
went out against them in great anger and combed through the whole
city, slaughtering all the Jews they could find, men and women, old and

Cf. above, § 57.

For a photo of the East Gate of Telia with a horseshoe-shaped tower, in whose
vicinity the negotiations perhaps took place, see Preusser, Nordmesopotamische
Baudenkmdler, Plate 71. As at Edessa, Kawad probably encamped on the east side of the
city with a view to keeping his line of retreat open. § 60.

Leontius was evidently commander {comes or tribounos) of one of the vexillations
that Areobindus had left behind in Telia during his retreat from the ‘Ammudin-Dara
position. The references to the ‘Tellenes’ as defenders of the city do not, therefore,
imply the absence of regular troops, pace Procopius, whose speech, put into the mouth
of bishop Bar-Hadad and asserting that Telia was without a garrison (oure oTpaTLcoToiv
(|)poupdv exouoa ouxe dXXo tl <j)uXaKTf|pLov, dXXd xou? oLKrjxopa? povoug,
dv0pcaTroL»9 oiKxpous), cannot be reconciled in any way with ps.-Joshua’s report about
the conversation between Peter and Leontius’ soldiers. Wars 2.13.14. Cf above, § 57.
Olympius dux of Mesopotamia was with Kawad at this time. Cf above, § 51.

This could mean either Greek or Latin. The language of command in the

army was Latin, but the local lingua franca, apart from Syriac, was Greek.

.tjj Wright: ‘apair of trousers’; Chabot: ‘binas bracas’.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

349

young. They went on doing this for days, and only reluctantly did
they stop massacring them by order of comes Leontius and the
persuasive power of the bishop, the blessed Bar-Hadad. They
guarded the city with care, night and day, while the holy Bar-Hadad
would go round visiting them, praying for them and blessing them. He

351

praised their diligence, gave them encouragement, and sprinkled holy
water on them and on the city wall. He also carried [286] the
eucharistic bread with him on his rounds to enable them to have
communion at their posts, so that on this account none of them should
abandon his guard and go down from the wall. He even went out
confidently to the Persian king and spoke with him and mollified him,
and when Kawad saw the man’s seriousness and appreciated the
vigilance of the Romans, it seemed to him pointless to be doing nothing

352

at Telia with the whole army which he had with him. For one

353

reason, it could not find supplies in an area that had been devastated,
and for another, he was worried that the Roman commanders might link
up and attack him together.^^"^ He therefore rapidly marched towards

' 1^0

On the free-spirited ruthlessness with which the Green circus faction of Antioch
killed the Jews of Daphne, cf above, n. 343.

The church of Tella-Constantina was suffragan to Amid, the metropolitan see of
Mesopotamia.

Lit.: ‘baptismal’.

Procopius gives a different account of Bar-Hadad’s embassy to Kawad. He is said to
have presented the Sasanid king with wine, figs, honey and bread. Wars 2.13.13-15. Cf.
Wars 1.8.11 and above, n. 346. Bishops had played an important role in the defence of
cities since the 4th c. For many examples, see N. Garsoian, ‘Le Role de I’hierarchie
chretienne’, 120-122, 129f

The villages had not recovered since the Persians plundered the territorium of Tella-
Constantina in November 502. The peasantry that survived will have begun to abandon
agriculture and migrate to well defended cities like Telia, notwithstanding Jacob of
Serug’s widely circulated letter that urged the people of Osrhoene and Mesopotamia not
to migrate from the war zone. Cf. § 54. Pace Procopius, it is absurd and unimaginable
that Kawad should have handed over his own army’s supplies to Bar-Hadad when the
territorium of Telia was in this condition. The story was a historical invention, put into
circulation by Khusrau I to justify his predatory exactions from the Syrian cities during
the expedition of 540, the first year of the Persian War of 540-544. Wars 2.13.15.

At first sight, Kawad’s drive on Edessa took him deeper into the Roman defensive
network of towns and fortresses linked by roads, exposing him to concentric attacks
from the forces at Callinicum, Telia and Amid, and even Patricius’ demoralised troops at
Samosata. Kawad’s army was, however, much larger than any of the isolated Roman
forces on the periphery. By taking the ‘central position’ near Edessa, he could fend them
off in turn, even while moving his army back and forth from under the walls of Edessa.
See Map II. Cf Isaac, Limits of Empire^ 250-260.

TRANSLATION

Edessa, and pitched camp for about twenty days on the river Gallab,
which is also called (the river) of the Medes. The more headstrong
of his troops went round the region and ravaged it.

On the sixth of September, the Edessenes flattened all the
monasteries and inns which were situated adjacent to the wall, and set

356

fire to Kephar Selem, the village which is (also known as) Negbath.
They cut down all the hedges of the surrounding parks and gardens, and
felled the trees in them, and they brought in the bones of all the martyrs
which were (in the churches) surrounding the city. They took
weaponry up onto the wall, and made coverings of haircloth on top of
the battlements. Kawad sent word to Areobindus on the ninth of the
month that he should either allow his marzhan into the city or come out
to meet him on the plain, for the reason, so he said, that he wanted to
make a peace-treaty with him. Secretly, however, he had told his army
that if Areobindus permitted them to enter the city, they should turn
round and seize the wall and (the city’s) entrances until he came and
got in after them; or if (Areobindus) came out to them, they should

359

ambush [287] him, take him alive, and bring him to (Kawad).
However, because Areobindus was fearful of allowing them to enter the
city, he went outside to meet them, not going far from the city, but

A tributary of the Balikh river, the Gallab rises near the northwestern spur of Tektek
Dagh, passes 24 km. east of Edessa, then flows south through Harran. Map II. Cf
Dilleman, Haute Mesopotamie, Fig. XVII. The Ayin-name counsels the Sasanid general
to encamp on wooded terrain near water supplies, leaving the plains in the hands of the
enemy. Inostrancev, ‘The Sasanian military theory’, 16.

These places were evidently hard against the fortifications, and would have given the
enemy points of refuge. The timbers and stone might otherwise have served as building
material for siege engines and mounds if left intact. The location of these places cannot
be determined.

The removal of martyr relics and church service vessels from suburban shrines was
standard procedure in time of siege.

These were evidently awnings lashed to the battlements and erected with posts over
the fighting platform to protect the defenders from missile fire. Goat’s hair was
considered to be fireproof Cf Procopius, Wars 2.26.29-30 (Dewing I 496f). We doubt
these were sandbags. On the other hand, the Persians did indeed fill cloth and skin bags
with soil at the siege of Amid, but this was devised to facilitate rebuilding the siege
mound that the Amidenes had successfully undermined. The Persians also laid cotton
coverings over the siege mound. § 53. Later, at the siege of Petra in 549, they
improvised sandbags to replace the battered masonry of the fortifications when no
mortar and stone was on hand, filling the silk bags in which they had carried their rations
to Colchis with sand. Ibid. 2.30.18f In general see C. Foss, ‘Fortifications’, ODB, 798f

359

The planned ambush proved too dangerous to carry out. See next note.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

360

(only) to the church of Mar Sergius. Bawi, who was an astabid - that
means, a Persian magistros^^^ - came and said to Areobindus, Tf you
want us to make peace, give us ten thousand pounds of gold, and
ratify with us a treaty giving us the customary gold each year.’
Areobindus promised to give up to seven thousand pounds, but they
did not agree to accept (that) and remained arguing with him from
dawn until nine o’clock. Finding no opportunity (to put into effect)
their deceitful plan, because of the Roman soldiers who were guarding
(Areobindus), and also being afraid of going to war with Edessa on
account of what had happened to Nu‘man, they left Areobindus in
Edessa and went to battle against Harran, while sending all the Tayyaye
to Serug. Rifaya, who was in Harran, secretly came out of the city
and attacked them, killing sixty of them and capturing alive the chief of
the Huns. As he was a well known figure, and held in great honour
by the Persian king, (the latter) promised the Harranites that he would
not fight against them if they would give (the Hun) back alive. They
were afraid of fighting and handed over the Hun, sending along with
him as a gift fifteen hundred rams and other items.

The Persian Tayyaye who had been sent to Serug went right up to the
river Euphrates, destroying, taking away, or plundering everything they
could. Patriciolus, one of the Roman officers, and Vitalianus his son

This was evidently the martyrion of Sts. Sergius and Symeon located some 200 m.
northeast of the fortifications. Areobindus will have left the city by either the Great Gate
on the east side or the Samosata Gate on the north. Either way, the Daisan lay between
him and the walls, but the martyrion was within easy range of ballistae and other
artillery, which were probably massed nearby, pointed in the direction of the church. See
Map IV.

The term is a Syriac adaptation of the Iranian spahbad (from Avestan spada-, ‘army’,
and pati-, ‘leader’) in the sense of the Latin magister militum. P. Gignoux, ‘Le spahbed
des Sassanides a TIslam’, JSAI 13 (1990), If.

720,000 solidi.

504,000 solidi.

Cf. above, § 58.

‘The context favours the singular’ (Wright). On the seyame (plural marking),

cf. Noldeke, Grammar, § 16B-C. The name is otherwise unknown. Wright compares it
to Arabic rifi. Noldeke, ‘Wright’s edition’, 685, suggested Rufinus (r^wao-^), perhaps the

same as that in §§ 50 and 54. Altheim, Geschichte der Hunnen, II, 16-17, proposes
^ = ripensis = ripensis militia, the Roman frontier troops designated ripenses.

I.e. the Romans were conducting a mobile defence against this Persian detachment
with the cavalry force guarding Harran, which lay c. 40 km. to the southeast of Edessa.
Other Roman formations may have been involved as well.

TRANSLATION

[288] came from the west at this time to join the fighting. He was
<still>^^^ (full) of fearless confidence, because he had not been near to
the previous events. Crossing the river, he encountered one of the
Persian officers and, engaging him, destoyed all the Persians with him.
He aimed to come to Edessa, but hearing from the refugees that Kawad
had surrounded the city, he turned back across the river and remained at
Samosata.^^^

371

On the seventeenth of this month, a Wednesday, we saw Christ’s

372

words and promises to Abgar being fulfilled in practice. Kawad had
gathered his whole army, marched from the river Euphrates, and came
and laid siege to Edessa. His camp stretched from the martyrion of Mar
Cosmas and Mar Damian, with them camping upon all the gardens and
at the church of Mar Sergius and the village of Bekin, as far as the
church of the Confessors, and the width of (the camp went) as far as the
descent of Serrin. This whole, innumerable force surrounded Edessa

Viz. between 9-17 September 503. ‘Patriciolus’, PLRE II, 837. Patriciolus was
possibly comes foederatomm. The Syriac title given to him and Vitalian by

ps.-Joshua (the same as that held by Constantine, comes Armeniae, at Theodosiopolis-
Erzerum) is consistent with this. However, it is possible that he was a comes or
tribounos of some other formation in one of the armies. Procopius mistakenly puts their
arrival at the same time as that of Areobindus, Patricius and Hypatius, shortly after the
fall of Amid on 10-13 January 503. Wars 1.8.3. Vitalian himself later rose to the rank
of comes foederatomm. He revolted against Anastasius in 513. Except for a brief
rapprochement in 514-515 (when Anastasius promoted him to magister militum per
Thraciam), Vitalian remained in rebellion until the emperor’s death in 518. He came to
terms quickly with Justin I and enjoyed the highest honours in 518-520 {magister
militum praesentalis, consul ordinarius, and patricius). Justinian is said to have had
him assassinated in 520. ‘FI. Vitalianus 2’, PLRE II 1171-1176.

368

Transposing from the previous sentence. Wright transposes it to the following

clause.

I.e. the rout of Patricius’ army now encamped at Samosata. The two men had
evidently talked with demoralised soldiers in Patricius’ army, which had not yet gone
into winter quarters, as reported later. Cf. above, § 57, below, § 66. Samosata was a well
positioned base from which fresh Roman troops could attack any Persian formations
raiding the countryside of northwestern Osrhoene.

Cf. above, § 58 n. 354.

17 September 503.

Cf above, §§ 5,36,58.

373

The Church of the Confessors was founded in the archiepiscopate of Abraham (c.
345-361). It housed the relics of the 3rd c. martyrs Guria, Shmona and Habib and
became the site of many reputed miracles, including the deliverance of Euphemia from
the Goth. Chron. Edessenum, Anno 657 (Guidi, 5) (version). Euphemia and the Goth,
13-32 (Burkitt, 134ff.). Cf. Luther, Chronik, 197-199. From the present context, it

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

in a day, not counting the guard-stations established for it on the hills
and heights. The whole plain was filled with them and all the gates
of the city were open, but the Persians were unable to enter it because
of the blessing of Christ. Fear overcame them and they remained at
their own positions, even though nobody fought with them, from
morning until about the ninth hour. Then a few people went out from
the city and attacked them, killing many Persians but suffering no

376

casualties themselves. Women carried water and took it outside the
wall for the fighters to drink, and young boys pelted (the enemy) with
catapults. So a few people who went out from the city drove away (the
Persians) [289] and kept them away from the wall, for they had been

appears that the martyrion lay outside the fortifications around the north side of the city.
Map IV. Luther, Chronik, 226f. concurs. Cf Segal, Edessa, Plan I, who puts it inside
the fortifications near the North or Samosata Gate. Although vedettes were posted all
over the plain, the main Persian position was a gigantic semicircular arc, extending
around the eastern half of the city from the Beth-Shemesh Gate in the south, along the
Daisan, to the high ground north of the city.

The hills west of the city were full of caves. It is not entirely clear that the civilian
population found them suitable for habitation. A cave inscription on Nimrud Dagh of
October 494 indicates that, at this time, the eminence was used by Syriac-speaking
monks as necropolis. Laymen also used caves in this way, as for example the woman
Amea, who was perhaps a survivor of the fighting in 503. Her funerary inscription has
Syriac names and other words transcribed into Greek letters (c. 513-525). E. Sachau,
‘Edessenische Inschriften’, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft 36
(1882), 142-167, nos. 4, 9.

If the Persians had attempted to storm the Samosata or Great Gate, their charge would
have been canalised as the men crowded across the bridges. The Roman artillery had
undoubtedly been massed to exact maximum casualties there. It should also be
remembered that a sizeable part of Areobindus’ 12,000-strong veteran army (minus
casualties) was in Edessa, and could successfully have engaged any Persians who got
through the crush on the bridges. No trace of the letter of Christ to Abgar survives on the
fortifications of Edessa. There was, however, a 10th c. inscription over one of the gates
that reflects a similar spirit: ‘Christ God, he who hopes in you is never confounded.’
(XpLoxe 6 0609, €19 CT€ cXiTL^wv ouK dTTOTuyxdueL TTOTe). H. Leclercq, ‘Edesse’,
DACL IV/2 (Paris, 1921), 2106. It was common practice to leave city gates open in the
face of the enemy. Other known examples come from Illyricum and Thrace: Drizipera
(Europa) in Theophylact Simocatta, Historiae 6.5.5 (Whitby-Whitby, 165); and
Thessalonica (Macedonia I), in a siege variously dated to 586 and 597. Lemerle,
Miracles de Saint Demetrius I 153, lines 11-26. In the latter instance, the Cassandriotic
Gate was left open during a sortie and could not be closed after the men returned
because of a mechanical fault. The Avars and Slavs were not tempted to assault the gate.
reX. Wright: .Xu r^r^Aaj reX (‘only one casualty’).

TRANSLATION

377

about as close to it as a bowshot. They withdrew and made camp
beside the village of Kubbe.

Next day Areobindus went out beyond the Great Gate, and standing
opposite the Persian army sent word to Kawad, ‘You have now seen in
(your own) experience that the city belongs neither to you nor to
Anastasius, but that it is the city of Christ, who has blessed it and has
stood against your forces so that they may not take control of it.’
Kawad answered, ‘Give me hostages (as surety) that you will not
pursue me when I strike camp to depart, and send me the men you
captured yesterday and the gold which you promised, and I will go
away from the city.’ Areobindus gave him comes Basil and the
fourteen men who had been captured, and made an agreement with him
to give him two thousand pounds of gold at <the end of> twelve

379 380

days. Kawad struck camp, and went and encamped at Dahbana,

381

but he did not wait for the agreed period, but on the following day
sent one of his men named Hormizd with orders to bring three hundred
pounds of gold. Areobindus gathered the nobles of the city to
consider how that gold could be collected, but when they realised that
Hormizd had come prematurely, they were fortified in their trust in
Christ and boldly said to Areobindus, ‘We should not send any gold to
this deceitful man. As he has gone back on his word and not waited
until the day came which you agreed with him, so he will go back and

The Persian investment came within a few hundred yards of the fortifications. Picked
soldiers must have initiated these skirmishes. It was seen as compensation for the
Romans’ weak numbers and memory of recent defeats. The latter, with Kawad’s sudden
return to Edessa and the tightness of the investment, lent no prospect for a pitched battle
outside the fortifications, as happened at Dara in 530. Cf Bury, LRE II 82f

378

r^TO»9cr», OpppOL.

In coin 144,000 solidi. Basil is attested here and in 507 as comes Orientis. It is
unknown if an interim replacement filled the position during his captivity with Kawad.
He was replaced in 507 after faction fights broke out in Antioch. ‘Basilius 7’, PLRE II,
215. The tasks of the comes were entirely civil. This seems to have made Basil
expendable. Cf Jones, LRE, 105, 592f, etc. Cf Theophanes, Chron. AM 5997-5998
(Mango-Scott, 226f), where the hostage ‘Alypius’ is actually Olympius dux of
Mesopotamia.

Dahbana or Davana (present-day ‘Ain al-‘Arus), c. 54 km. south of Edessa on the
Karamuk river. It had been the encampment of the ala I Nova Diocletiana in the early
5th c., and was therefore a suitable place for Kawad to rest his army during negotiations
with Areobindus. Map II. Cf DxWemmw, Haute Mesopotamie, 178, 186f Fig. XXIII.

TTpoOeapLa.

In coin, 21,600 solidi.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

play false when he gets the gold. We believe that if he makes war with
us, he will again suffer ignominy, because Christ will protect his city.’
Then [290] Areobindus also plucked up courage and sent word to
Kawad, ‘Now we know that you are not a (real) king, for a king does
not give his word and then falsely go back on it. He who plays false is
no king, so as you have shown your falsehood, send comes Basil back

383

to me, and do whatever you are capable of doing.’

Kawad was furious. He got ready for action the elephants he had
with him, and with his whole camp set out and came again to do battle
with Edessa, (reaching it) on the twenty-fourth of September, a
Wednesday. He surrounded the city on all sides, even more thoroughly
than on the previous occasion. All the gates lay open, but Areobindus
had ordered the Roman soldiers not to engage him, in order that there
should be no deception manifested from his side. A few of the
villagers, however, who (had taken refuge) in the city, went out against
him with slings and felled many of his mailed men, while suffering no
losses themselves. (Kawad’s) legions endeavoured to enter the

383

This was a calculated insult. There is an analogous piece of rhetoric by John of
Ephesus in his account of the battle near Melitene in 576. In this instance, the Roman
generals led by Justinian magister militum per Orientem wrote to Khusrau I in the hope
of getting him to stand and fight a disadvantageous pitched battle after his desultory raid
into eastern Anatolia; ‘The act you accomplished in invading our territories and burning
a city is not in accordance with the rank of a king, to do a piece of mischief and beat a
retreat. It would have been a disgrace for us, even we, who are but servants of an
emperor, had we acted as you have: how much more it is to you, who are not merely a
king but, as you account yourself, king of kings ...’ Adapted from HE 6.9 (Payne Smith,
395f.). The king’s vulnerability to taunts of this kind in the Iranian warrior ethos, along
with his subsequent defeat, may explain the law he published soon after, forbidding the
king to go on campaign except against another monarch. Ibid. (Payne Smith, 398). Cf.
Theophylact Simocatta’s less detailed account of the law. Histories 3.14.11 (Whitby-
Whitby, 95). See also Michael Whitby, ‘The Persian king at war’. The Roman and
Byzantine Army in the East, ed. E. Dabrowa (Cracow, 1994), 227-263.

384

For hand-slings (fundae), see Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 166. The Syriac
rdxaX , ‘mailed men’, refers to the Sasanid heavy cavalry, the clibanarii, who fought

with lance and bow. Ibid., 90; Bivar, ‘Cavalry equipment and tactics’, 275-278. Plates
4, 5, 28 and 30; M. P. Speidel, ‘Catafractarii clibanarii and the rise of late Roman mailed
cavalry: a gravestone from Claudiopolis in Bithynia’, Epigraphica Anatolica 4 (1984),
151-156 = Roman Army Studies II (Stuttgart, 1992), 406-413.

The Hellenised Latin loanword Xeyedive? should probably be understood as infantry
formations, in view of their use of the ‘tortoise’ formation. See next note. The Sasanid
infantry (paygan) consisted of archers and foot. In sieges, the archers were supposed to
advance firing, protected by wicker and hide shields. In contrast, the foot, who were
conscripted without pay, fought with shields and spears, and were given tasks like

TRANSLATION

city, but when they got close to its gates, (drawn up in formation) like a
tortoise standing up from the ground, they were humiliated and
beaten down and they turned back. The speed of their cavalry charge
caused the slingers to get mixed up among them, but although the
Persians were shooting arrows, the Huns brandishing thongs, and the
Tayyaye aiming spears against them, they could not injure any of them.
Like the Philistines who went up against Samson and who although

numerous and armed could not kill him, while he, unarmed as he was,

•>00

killed a thousand of them with the jaw-bone of an ass, so too [291]
the Persians, Huns, and Tayyaye, although falling with their horses
from the stones which the slingers were hurling, could not kill any of
them. When they saw that they could neither get into the city nor injure
the unarmed men caught up in their midst, they set alight the church of
Mar Sergius, the church of the Confessors, and all the monasteries
which (the Edessenes) had left intact, as well as the church in Negbath,
for the citizens had also left it.

When Areobindus the stratelates saw the effort of the villagers,
(observed) that they were not <put to shame>, and (realised) that
(heavenly) aid accompanied them, on the following day he gathered all
the villagers who were in Edessa to the (city) church and gave them a
present of three hundred denarii. Kawad left Edessa, moved on to
encamp on the river Euphrates, and from there sent envoys to the
emperor to tell him of his coming. Meanwhile the Tayyaye who
were with him crossed to the west of the river and looted, destroyed,
plundered, and burned everything they could find, while a few Persian

storming walls and digging mines. Shahbazi, ‘Army I. Pre-Islamic Iran’, Encyclopaedia
Iranica II 497.

386

The word also means ‘mound’, but cf. the ‘tortoise’ of § 51.

387

(uncertain, but in all probability correct). Suggested emendations are
(Noldeke) (Kopwai’, clubs’), or (Bensly) rdxa.xa (‘axes’), or (Altheim)

(‘lassoes’). Cf. Altheim, Geschichte der Hunnen, II 17-19. The Sasanid clibanarii are
known at times to have carried lassoes or slings with stones. Shahbazi, ‘Army I. Pre-
Islamic Iran’, Encyclopaedia Iranica II 497.

Cf. Judges 15: 9-16.

389

Procopius is not aware that Kawad invested Edessa twice in 503. Wars 1.8.19. Later,
at Wars 2.13.9-11 (on Khusrau I’s raid of 540 against Osrhoene), he reports that in 503
Kawad declined to attack the fortifications on the advice of the magi. As told, the story
is consistent with ps.-Joshua to the extent that Kawad failed to order a general assault on
the two occasions he took his army there {viz. 17 and 24 September 503).

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

cavalry went to Batnan. " Because its wall was in ruins, (its people)
could not withstand (the enemy) but surrendered without a fight and

391

handed the city over to them.

The year 815 ( = 503/4 A.D.)

When the Roman emperor got word of what had been happening, he
despatched Celer his magistros with a large army.^^^ On hearing of
this, Kawad marched (down) along the river Euphrates to go and stay
(over the winter) in the region belonging to him called Beth
Aramaye.^^^ As he came towards Callinicum,^^'^ he sent a marzban

Also called Batnae and Serug, Batnan lay at an intersection of four military highways
converging from Mabbug-Hierapolis and Zeugma in Euphratesia, and Edessa and
Harran in Osrhoene. Map II. Cf Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, 148. Fig. XVII and
XXIII.

Theophanes summarises the year’s campaign (erroneously dated to 504/5) with the
observation that the Persians pushed ‘as far as the Syrias’. In fact they got no further
than the great bend of the Euphrates, the concave river line that separates Osrhoene from
Euphratesia. Theophanes’ source may refer to a document like Not. Dign. Or. XXXIII
that had been obsolete for some decades. Dating from ante 470 (?), it puts the three
Syrias under the command of a single dux, viz. Syria I, Syria II and Syria Euphratensis.
Cf Theophanes, Chron. AM 5997 (Mango-Scott, 226f and n. 6), which omits Syria
Euphratensis.

‘Celer 2’, PLRE II 275-277. Theophanes correctly reports that Celer, as magister
officiorum, shared the overall command with Areobindus, a relationship that ps.-Joshua
fails to define (... KeXapa tov payioTpou ... rpu 6Xr|u axeSou efouaiav
Trap€LXr)(j)6Ta oiiu ’ApeoPLuSto Tto aTparriyiAj). Theophanes, Chron. AM 5998 (de Boor
I 147f; Mango-Scott, 227). In the early 6th c., this official had any number of quasi¬
military functions, being in charge of the arms factories (fabricae), the military road
network {cursus publicus) and the duty of inspecting the limitanei. Jones, LRE 368f,
834-836. He was therefore in a position to oversee the re-equipping of Patricius’ and
Hypatius’ praesental armies and direct the movement of supplies, a task frequently
delegated to the protectores domestici in the scholae (also under his command). Ps.-
Joshua uses the Latin-Greek loanword magistros for this office throughout. Procopius
seems to have no clear idea about Celer’s sharing overall command with Areobindus,
naming him as simply a late-arriving colleague of Areobindus, Patricius and Hypatius.
Wars 1.8.2; 1.8.10. Cf 1.8.20, where he asserts that, at the time of Celer’s arrival, ‘no
one was made commander in the war’. Cf A. E. R. Boak, The Master of Offices in the
Later Roman and Byzantine Empires (New York, 1919), 74-80, 89-91, etc.

This was the Aramaic name of the Sasanid province of Asuristan-Babylonia, the part
of Mesopotamia between Tespon {viz. Ctesiphon) and the Tigris-Euphrates delta. CHI
III/2, 748. The district had its own marzban at this time. Chronique de Seert, seconde
partie (I) 14 (Scher, PO 7, 129). At first sight, Kawad’s move to winter quarters
contradicts Procopius, who explains that a ‘Hunnic’ attack caused the retirement from
Osrhoene. Wars 1.8.19. The Huns in question must have been Sabirs entering the

TRANSLATION

there [292] to engage them in battle, but Timostratus the dux came out
against him and destroyed his whole force, taking (the Persian general)
alive. When Kawad (himself) reached the city, he drew up his entire
army against it, threatening to destroy it and slaughter or take captive
all its inhabitants if they did not hand over (the general) to him. The
dux was cowed by the size of the Persian army and gave him up. 65

397

When Celer the magistros reached Mabbug by the river Euphrates,
and realised that Kawad had moved away from him, the wintry season
had arrived, and he could not pursue him, he summoned the Roman
commanders and <reprimanded> them for not listening to each
other.^^^ He then assigned to them the cities in which they were to pass
the winter until the campaign season came."^^^

An edict came from the emperor on the twenty-fifth of December 66

releasing all Mesopotamia from the synteleia.^^^ When the Persians

Sasanid province of Arran through the Caspian Gates. Kawad began to rebuild the
fortifications of Darband against these and other generic Huns settled in the area, not
earlier than 508. Cf. above § 9, note 39.

Present-day al-Raqqa. For remnants of the late Roman fortifications, see M. al-Khalaf
and K. Kohlmeyer, ‘Untersuchungen zu ar-Raqqa-Nikephorion/Callinicum’, DM 2
(1985), 133-162, Fig. 2, Plate 46a and 46d. The fortress was certainly full of people
from villages in the territorium of Callinicum. Cf Chronique de Seert, seconde partie
(/;38(Scher, POl, 197).

The scale of the victory suggests that Timostratus, dux of Osrhoene, had concentrated
many of the provincial numeri with him in the fortress.

I.e. Timostratus exchanged the Persian officer for the guarantee that Kawad would
abandon the siege of Callinicum. The latter then continued his retirement down the east
bank of the Euphrates.

Mabbug lies about 24 km. west of the Euphrates. See Map II.

Reading r«iria with Wright. MS.: (‘dismissed’).

Celer’s successful raid against Arzanene did not take place at this point, as Procopius
suggests at Wars 1.8.22, but in mid- or late summer 504. Cf below, § 79, nn. 450-453.

This dispersal enabled commissaries to draw supplies without excessive hardship to
the rural population and prevented town dwellers and rustics alike from migrating.

This was the first of seven such tax remission decrees. Procopius has it differently,
reporting an immediate seven-year remission of all taxes {viz. annona and capitatio)
paid annually by Amid and its territorium. Wars 1.7.35. Cf above, § 39. Jones, LRE^
237 and 1113, nn. 47f The tax remissions for Mesopotamia were renewed by yearly
edict, and not decreed for a fixed seven-year term at the outset. Cf below, § 99, n. 544.
Cf analogous tax remissions in the West because of invasion in 413-444 A.D. Jones,
LRE, 204. Procopius seems to put the decree immediately after the fall of the city on
10-13 January 503, but ps.-Joshua’s date, 25 December 503, is certainly the correct one,
coming almost a year after that given by Procopius.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

402

who were in Amid saw that the Roman army had departed, they
opened the city gates of Amid, went out, and entered wherever they
wished, selling brass, tin, iron, tattered clothing and anything they
could find in (the city) to merchants, even setting up a warehouse"^^^ in
it. When Patricius heard about this, he left Melitene, where he was
spending the winter,"^^"* and came and laid siege to Amid, killing all the
merchants whom he found taking food and oil down to it and also those
who were buying things from there. He also found and slew the
Persians who had been commissioned by Kawad to bring arms, grain,
and animals there, and took all they had on them. On learning of this,
Kawad sent a marzban against him to take vengeance on him, and
when they approached each other to fight, the Roman soldiers, [293]
frightened by their earlier defeat,"^^^ advised Patricius to retreat. He
followed this (advice), but in their haste, not knowing where they were

As will be seen, Patricius’ and Hypatius’ praesental armies had retired to winter
quarters at Melitene. The forces they had left behind to blockade Amid seem to have
abandoned their positions with the onset of winter. At this point Hypatius was recalled
to Constantinople because of his inability to cooperate with Areobindus, and disappears
from ps.-Joshua’s narrative. Cf Theophanes, Chron. AM 5998 (Mango-Scott, 227).
This, and not John Lydus’ self-serving accusation of ‘inexperience and cowardice’,
explains Hypatius’ removal. De Magistratibus 3.53, ed. R. Wuensch (Leipzig, 1903),
142. He was not formally replaced until the late summer of 505, when Pharazman took
command of the ‘second’ praesental army. The long delay was perhaps a consequence of
the losses sustained at the battle of Opadna and subsequent rout (cf above, § 57, n. 332),
with the surviving vexillations consolidated into a single army under Patricius’
command until brought fully up to strength. Cf below, § 88. It is difficult to accept
PLRE II 578, where it is said that Hypatius ‘was replaced by Celer’ when the latter was
sharing overall command with Areobindus. Anastasius had not sent Celer merely to take
over a battered praesental army. Cf above, § 64, n. 392.

, dTToGeTov.

Patricius followed the military road east from Melitene, crossed the Euphrates, and
thereafter a spur of the Taurus near lake Golcuk and the headwaters of the Tigris. Map
II. Cf Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, 148. Fig. XVII (Route 1). Patricius had
previously moved his demoralised praesental army from Samosata to winter quarters at
Melitene, where it rested after its defeat in the battle of Opadna. Once in Melitene, it
could draw replacements, re-equip and cover Armenia II, which was now an operational
backwater but nevertheless bereft of its regular troops. The latter were now with
Eugenius, dux of Armenia II, protecting the re-fortification of Theodosiopolis-Erzerum.
Cf above, § 52. On the fortifications of Melitene (present-day Eski Malatya), see
Gabriel, Voyages archeologiques I 263-268 and Fig. 195. The surviving fortifications
at Melitene are of Justinianic date. ‘Melitene’, PECS, 570.

Viz. the lost battle of Opadna in August 503, after which the army retreated in great
disorder to Samosata. Cf above, § 57.

TRANSLATION

going, they came to a river called the Kallath/^^ Because it was winter
and (the river) was in full flood, they could not cross it, and any one of
them who tried to rush across it was drowned in the river together with
his horse. When Patricius saw this, he encouraged the soldiers, saying,
‘Romans, let us not disgrace our race or our military calling by fleeing
from our enemies, but let us turn around and fight them, for we may
have the measure of them. But even if they are too powerful for us, it is
better to die by the edge of the sword with a good reputation for
courage than to drown like cowards in a torrent of water.’ Then the
Romans, because the river gave them no choice, were persuaded by his
exhortation and furiously turning against the Persians destroyed them,

A m

capturing their leaders alive. After this they returned and laid siege to
Amid again.^^^ Patricius sent out word and gathered craftsmen from
other cities and many villagers, and ordered them to dig in the ground
and make a tunnel underneath the wall, so that it might be undermined
and collapse.

In March, when the rest of the soldiers were assembling to go down
with the magistros,^^^ they were given a certain sign from God to
encourage them and make them confident of victory. It was made
known to us by a letter from the people of the church of Zeugma,"^but

Kallath was the Aramaic name of the Nymphius river (present-day Batman-su),
which divided the pro-Roman satrapies in Sophene from Sasanid Arzanene. See Map II.
Cf Honigmann, Ostgrenze, Map I. The name is not noted by Dillemann, Haute
Mesopotamie, Fig. III. Something is missing from ps.-Joshua’s narrative at this point, for
it is otherwise difficult to explain Patricius’ presence in Persian territory on the far side
of the Kallath-Nymphius river, some 60 km. east of Amid. The intervening events can
be reconstructed as follows; after destroying the Persian markets around Amid, Patricius
crossed the Tigris and marched straight across Sophene to the frontier on the Kallath-
Nymphius river, which he crossed, entering Sasanid Arzanene. It was evidently along
this route that he encountered the Persian munitions convoys. The marzban in question
was the military governor of either Armin {viz. Persarmenia) or Adurbadagan {viz.
Azerbaijan), who came up with provincial troops.

The battle took place in Sasanid territory somewhere along the east bank of the
Kallath-Nymphius. Although in a dangerous position with their backs to the river in full
spate, Patricius and his troops destroyed the enemy force, thereby rehabilitating the
reputation of the ‘first’ praesental army.

Viz. Patricius’ army crossed to the west bank of the Kallath (probably by a bridge)
and retraced its steps across Sophene, reaching the Tigris near Amid, which it began to
besiege once again.

Celer, magister qfficiorum. Cf. above, § 64, n. 392.

Zeugma in Euphratesia (present-day Balkis) lay on the west bank of the Euphrates
opposite Apamea ad Euphratem. It was an important crossing, linked with Edessa and

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

lest it appear that I am saying something on my own account, or that I
have been persuaded to give credence to a false report, let me put down
the very words of the letter which came to us, which are as follows:

‘Listen now to a miracle and an (occasion for) rejoicing (full) of
praise (to God), the like of which has never occurred, because this
(involves) us, [294] you, and all Romans. The event was so amazing
that it is hard for the mind of creatures of flesh to believe it, but we saw
it with our eyes, touched it <with our hands>,'^^* and read it with our
lips. Without any scruple you ought (thus) to believe (it). On the
nineteenth of March, a Friday, the day when our Saviour was killed, in
the village of ‘Agar, which is in the chora of Zeugma, a goose laid
an egg, and on it were inscribed elegant and readable Greek characters.
They formed, so to speak, the body of that egg and were embossed for
[sight] and touch, like the characters which monks [inscribe] on the
cups'*of the (eucharistic) blessing, and their form was perceptible
even to the blind.'**'* They were (set out) in this manner: a cross was
engraved on the side of the egg, and going all the way round the egg
until it came back to the cross was written (the word) The Romans.^^^
There was also another cross engraved (on it), and (right round the egg)
until it got back to (the cross) was written (the word) will conquer.^^^

Harran. See Map II. It was probably a stopping point for refugees fleeing the zone of
operations in 502-503. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotomie, 148, 213. Figs. XVII and
XXIX (Routes 3 and 4). In general, see J. Wagner, Seleukia am Euphrat/Zeugma
(Wiesbaden, 1976).

Reading with Chabot’s conjecture ^.li’rdao. M.S : . m. Cf. 1 John 1:

1 .

Or: ‘Agad.

Reading uncertain. Wright and Chabot: Martin: Dolabani and

Brockelmann, Lexicon, 618: read ‘communion plate’.

Viz. the letters on the surface of the egg were in high or low relief.

MS.: ‘in Latin’. The cross may in fact have been the Chi-Rho,

the victory symbol par excellence of the armies of the Christian empire from the time of
Constantine the Great onward. Cf. H. Leclercq, ‘Chrisme’, DACL III/l (Paris, 1948),
1482-1534, esp. 1493-1498 (imperial usage).

Viz. ol' PcopaloL RKcoCTL (in the present active indicative, or, less likely, the future
v'LKTjooixjL), or perhaps the Latin Romani victores erunt. The verb ‘conquer’ turns up in
many Latin and Greek phrases associated with the military victories of the Christian
emperors, e.g. a lintel inscription at Edessa (early 6th c.): ‘On behalf of the victory and
safety of the emperor’ ([u-rrep veiKT)]? kqI acarqpias auTo[Kpd]T[opo9]). Transcription
by V. Chapot, ‘Antiquites de la Syrie du Nord’, BCH 26 (1902), no. 53. Its letter forms
(round omega, but with otherwise square uncials) are almost identical to no. 51 (Telia-

TRANSLATION

The crosses were engraved one above the other, as the words were
written one above the other. No Christian or Jew seeing this miracle
would stop his mouth (showing forth God’s) praise, but we are not so
presumptions as to imitate the characters which the hand of God
inscribed inside the womb (of the goose), for they are very beautiful.
Let anyone who hears (of this) be assured (of its truth) without doubt. ’
These are the words of the letter from the Zeugmatites. The egg itself
was given [295] to Areobindus by those in whose village it was laid.

The Romans gathered a large army and went down and encamped by
the city of Resh‘aina,^‘^ while Kawad despatched about ten thousand
men to attack Patricius. They entered Nisibis and remained there for
rest, sending their animals to pasture on the Mount of Singara. When
the magistros heard of this, he sent Timostratus, dux of Callinicum,
with six thousand cavalry, and they went and attacked those who were
looking after the horses and routed them. Taking horses, flocks, and
much booty, he went back to the Roman army at Resh‘aina. Then all of
them set out together and went and laid siege to the city of Amid with
Patricius."^^^

Constantina, 513/4 A.D.). H. Leclercq, ‘Nika’, DACL XII (Paris, 1935), 1269-1272.
Idem, ‘Labarum’, DACL VIII/1 (Paris, 1928), 954. Some think the formula ‘this (cross)
conquers’ (toOto + viKq) was adapted to celebrate the ostensible Christianisation of the
Syrian countryside; e.g. Trombley, HRC 11 267, 288, 293f., 307, etc. (Syria I and II).
^*^Cf. Psalm 51 : 15(17).

"*** Resh‘aina-Theodosiopolis.

Jabal Sinjar. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, 148f. Figs. XVII-
XVIII. For an aerial photos of the massif, see A. Poidebard, La Trace de Rome dans le
desert de Syrie II: Album (Paris, 1934), Plate CXLI. On the site, see F. Sarre and E.
Herzfeld, Archdologische Reise im Euphrat- und Tigrisgebiet II (Berlin, 1920), 305-307.

Timostratus, with the numeri of Osrhoene, must have come across the steppe from
Callinicum and joined Celer’s army concentrating at Resh‘aina-Theodosiopolis. The
raiding force then certainly took Dillemann’s Route 5 down the Khabur river to the
frontier. The road continues across Jabal Sinjar to Singara (present-day Balad Sinjar),
which lies on its south side. For an aerial photo, see Poidebard, Trace de Rome, Plate
CLIV, with fortifications visible on the side of the town facing the massif (from c. 1000
m.); cf. also above, n. 315. The ride from Resh‘aina to the outskirts of Singara is c. 180
km., assuming Timostratus kept to the roads. The operation would therefore have taken
several weeks. See Map II. The route of Timostratus’ march can also be followed from
Poidebard, Trace de Rome, Plate CXL.

For the route, see Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, 149. Fig. XVIII.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

70 In May, Calliopius the Aleppine became hyparch, and coming and
taking up residence in Edessa, he gave the Edessenes wheat to make
boukellaton at their own expense. On this occasion they baked eight
hundred and fifty thousand modii of wheat. Appion went to Alexandria
in order to make boukellaton there also and send bread (to the army)."*^^

71 When Patricius got under the wall of Amid by the tunnel which he
had been digging, he supported it with stakes and (then) <set> fire to
them. The outer side of the wall (thus) became weak and collapsed,
(but) the inner (side still) stood, so he decided to (continue) digging in
the tunnel and enter the city (by this means). When he had dug the
tunnel right through and the Romans began to go up (through it), an
Amidene woman saw them and blurted out suddenly for joy, ‘Look, the
Romans are coming into the city!’ The Persians heard <her>, rushed at
the first one who came up, and speared him. A Goth by the name of
Ald"^^"^ went up after him. He had been made tribounos at Harran, and
he speared three of the Persians, but no other Romans went up after
him, because [296] the Persians had discovered them. When Aid
realised that no one else was coming up, he took fright and turned back,
but he decided to take back down with him the body of the fallen
soldier, so that the Persians might not abuse it. While he was pulling

Viz. Calliopius displaced Appion as praetorian prefect of Oriens vacans in the zone of
operations, with the task of organising military bread rations there in 504-506. See
above, § 54. He may be the same person as Calliopius, comes Orientis c. 494. As he was
a resident of Aleppo-Beroia in Syria I, our Calliopius’ connections with the curiales of
the Syrian towns made him particularly suited to the task of supplying the armies. Cf.
‘Calliopius 3’ and ‘Calliopius 5’, PLRE II, 25If. Theophanes refers to him as the
‘general in charge of expenditure’ (tov aTpaTT]'y6v ... tt] tou SairavTipaTo? dpxti),
where strategos is simply to be understood ‘praetorian prefect’. Chron. AM 5998 (de
Boor I 148, line 5f.). Theophanes uses the same term to describe Solomon’s office as
praetorian prefect of Africa in 534-536 at AM 6026 (de Boor I 189, line 10), pace
Mango-Scott, 288, who translate it as ‘general’. Cf. Procopius 3.11.5 (Dewing II 102f.),
where Solomon ‘managed the office of strategos^ or ‘served as military administrator’,
viz. ‘praetorian prefect’ (eTreTpoireue oxpaTTiyiav).

After Calliopius’ appointment, Appion briefly retained his post as a supernumerary
praetorian prefect of Oriens vacans, with the task of organising the production of
military bread {bucellatum) and shipping it to the zone of operations. Cf. above, § 54,
70, 77. His family contacts in the diocese of Aegyptus were doubtless the reason for this.
Once this was done, he was recalled to Constantinople rather than being sent back to
Mesopotamia, probably because, like Hypatius, he had failed to cooperate with
Areobindus. ‘Apion 2’, PLRE II, 112. Egyptian grain traditionally supported armies on
campaign in Mesopotamia, as in 359. Isaac, Limits of Empire, 291, n. 145.

. 1 ^ 1 ^. The vocalisation of the name is uncertain.

TRANSLATION

the body and going down into the entrance of the tunnel, the Persians
struck him too and wounded him. They also ran water from a large
spring nearby onto it, and four of the armed soldiers who were
preparing to go up were drowned there. The rest of them then fled and
got out of there, and the Persians collected stones from inside the city
and blocked up the tunnel. They also piled up a lot of earth above it
and kept guard vigilantly all round about it, in case it should be
penetrated from a different point. They dug trenches all the way round
the wall on the inside and filled them with water, so that if the Romans
made another tunnel, the water would drain into it, and (its existence)
would become apparent. When Patricius learnt about it from a traitor
who had come over to his side, he abandoned the tunnels.

One day, when the whole Roman army was at rest and peace,
fighting was provoked in the following manner. A young lad was
feeding the camels and asses, and one of the asses walked up to the wall
as it was grazing. The boy was too frightened to go in and retrieve it,
and when one of the Persians saw it, he came down from the wall by
rope, intending to cut it up and take it up for food, for there was
absolutely no meat in the city. However, one of the Roman soldiers, a
Galilean by birth, drawing his sword and taking his shield in his left
hand, rushed towards the Persian to kill him. Because he went right
up to the wall, those standing on the wall hurled down a large stone and
struck the Galilean, [297] and the Persian began to climb up to his place
by the rope. When he reached halfway up the wall, one of the Roman
officers came near, two shield-bearers going in front of him, and from
between them he shot an arrow and hit the Persian, bringing him down
near the Galilean. Shouting erupted from both sides, and for this reason
they became agitated and rose up to do battle. All the Roman forces
were tightly crowded together right round the city; forty of them were

y| ^ ^

Aid was commander (comes = tribounos) of one of the provincial numeri at the
disposition of Timostratus, dux of Osrhoene, most of whose force was now with Celer
besieging Amid. His predecessor at Harran was Rifaya. Cf. above, § 59. Harran is not
mentioned as a regular billet in the early 5th c. Not. Dign. Or. XXXV. Cf. ‘Aid’, PLRE
II 54, for a different view.

Ps.-Joshua’s description of the mining operation is unique. On sapping walls, see
Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 165f.

>1OT

Galilee lay in Palaestina II. In the early 5th c., the dux of Palaestina disposed a large
number of cavalry formations. This force entered the zone of operations with Romanus
as dux around the time Areobindus arrived in May 503. Cf. § 54 and Not. Dign. Or.
XXXIV (Seeck, 72-74).

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

killed and a hundred and fifty wounded, while of the Persians on the
wall, only nine were observed to have died, and a few were

428

wounded. It was difficult (for the Romans) to fight with them,
especially as (the Persians) were on the top of the wall, because all the
way along it they had built small huts. They took up position inside
them and fought, and were not visible to those outside."^^^

73 The magistros and the army commanders decided, however, that it
was not appropriate for them to fight with (the garrison at Amid), as
victory would not be achieved by the Romans by killing them. That
would not end the war, which was with all the Persians, but if Kawad
was defeated, (the garrison at Amid) would (have to) give themselves
up or die in their blockade. They therefore gave orders that there was
to be no fighting with them, so that the strength of the army should not
be dissipated by deaths or injuries among the soldiers.

430

74 During June, when Constantine, who had gone with the Persians,
saw that the (Persian) cause had not been successful, he abandoned
them, taking with him two eminent women of Amid who had been
given to him by the Persian king. He travelled through the deserted
wilderness with a few companions for fourteen days, night and day, and
on reaching inhabited land [298] made himself known to the Roman
Tayyaye. They guided him and brought him to the kastron called
Shura, and from there sent him to Edessa. When the emperor heard
about his coming, he summoned him and, after (Constantine) had gone
up into his presence, ordered one of the bishops to ordain him priest.
(He also ordered Constantine) to go and take up residence in the city of

428

The figures express the proportion of casualties an attacking force was likely to take
in fighting against men in fortifications. This probably explains Celer’s decision to
switch from assault tactics to blockade. Cf below, § 73.

The huts were evidently shanties constructed on the firing platform of the city wall.
The firing slits of the battlements were left open to the outside, allowing the Persians to
fire arrows against the besiegers. Cf below, § 76. This practice seems nowhere else
attested. Cf Southem-Dixon, Late Roman Army, 127-147.

Cf. §§ 48,55.

Sura in Euphratesia on the south bank of the Euphrates. In the early 5th c., it was the
billet of the legio XVI Flavia Firma. Not. Dign. Or. XXXIII. 28 (Seeck, 70). For the
fortified town and castellum, see Poidebard, Trace de Rome, Plate LXXIX, which gives
a general view of the site, the agricultural lands round about, and its proximity to the
Euphrates, and Plate LXXX, a vertical photo showing unroofed towers, the fosse and
possibly a proteichisma. Traces of many extramural buildings are also visible. For a full
description of the site, see Chapot, Frontiere de I’Euphrate, 286-288, where Sura is
described as a ‘field of ruins’. Cf Kennedy-Riley, Rome’s Desert Frontier, 115f

TRANSLATION

432

Nicaea, keep out of his sight, and stay well away from (public)

1 • 433

business.

Since Kawad had gone into the bath-house (demosion) of Amid
when he captured (the city) and experienced the benefit of bathing, the
moment he went down to his own country he gave orders that baths
should be built in all towns within the Persian domain. (Meanwhile) a
Tayy under Persian rule, ‘Adid, went over with his whole army and

43 5

gave his allegiance to the Romans. During July the Romans again
fought against the Persians in Amid. Gainas, the dux of Arabia,
inflicted many casualties on them with arrows, but when his armour got
too warm for him in the heat of the day and he slightly loosened his
armour-belt, he was hit by arrows launched from ballistae in Amid and
died. When the magistros saw that he was being damaged by

43 7

besieging Amid, he led his army down to Persian territory, while

Probable reading.

For source criticism cf. ‘Constantinus 14’, PLRE II, 314. Malalas’ report (based on
Eustathius’ chronicle) that Constantine died in Persian captivity was an unconfirmed
rumour that Eustathius failed to correct because he too died not long afterward. It has
also been suggested that Constantine’s death was confused with that of the imperial
envoy and former dux of Mesopotamia Olympius. Cf. below, § 80.

Cf. above, § 22, n. 98.

Ps.-Joshua is our sole source for this. The correct form of the shaykh’s name is either
‘Aziz or Yazid. The reasons for his defection are unknown. Shahid, Byzantium and the
Arabs in the Sixth Century I 14.

The Persians were evidently using ballistae captured at the fall of the city in January
503. Gainas probably succeeded Eugenius as dux Arabiae after the latter became dux
utriusque Armeniae. W. Wright’s supposition that ‘Arabia’ meant the parts around
Damascus is an unnecessary construction, as is the suggestion that Gainas was dux novi
limitis Phoenices (viz. dux of Phoenice Libanensis). ‘Gainas 2’, PRLE II 489. Ps.-Joshua
gives clear hints, and it is generally agreed, that the provincial cavalry numeri of both
these provinces, as well as Palaestina, were called up when Areobindus reached the zone
of operations. Cf. above, § 72 n. 427; Shahid, Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth
Century I 20f The chronicler here departs from his practice of designating the dux by
the name of the town where his headquarters stood. Instead, he gives the normal
administrative-technical term for Gainas’ command. This should be taken at face value.
His force (a moira or droungos) was serving alongside one of the praesental armies.

Celer appears to have conducted a raid against Sasanid Arbayistan, to judge from a
notice in Marcellinus Comes’ chronicle for this year, 503/4. He took his men c. 300 km.
southward through Osrhoene, from Amid to Callinicum on the Euphrates by way of road
links through Telia and Resh‘aina. See Map II. Cf. Dilleman, Haute Mesopotamie^ Figs.
XI, XVII. Once across the frontier, Celer’s troops raided Persian farmlands, killing cattle
and agriculturalists and rounding up shepherds and their flocks. He is also said to have
seized some forts constructed of mud brick (castella latere lutoque constructa) and to

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

438

leaving Patricius at Amid. Areobindus also led his army into Persian
Armenia,and destroyed ten thousand of the Armenians and Persians,
taking captive thirty thousand women and children and pillaging and
burning many villages. When they turned round to go back to Amid,
they took a hundred and twenty thousand sheep, oxen and cattle."^"^® As
they passed beside the city of Nisibis, the Roman soldiers lay in hiding
while a few accompanying the booty drove it by."*"^^ When a marzban
who was there saw that there were (only) a few of them, he armed his

have advanced as far as the Iron Bridge {ad pontem Ferreum), an unidentified site that
perhaps spanned the Tigris. Celer achieved operational surprise because of the
unexpected direction of his long approach march, which must have taken two weeks to
execute. No engagements are reported with the Persians. Chronicle, 33f. (Note that the
word castella, ‘forts’, should be read in the plural.) Celer’s raid against Arzanene at
Procopius, Wars 1.9.20-22 was a separate event, and took place in 505. Cf. below, § 79.

It seemed safest to leave Patricius’ praesental army behind to blockade Amid. It had
gained confidence by marching and fighting in 504, but was perhaps not thought
sufficiently battleworthy for a deep incursion into Persian territory. The precise
composition of Celer’s army is unknown. The reference to Gainas dux Arabiae in § 74
strongly suggests that Celer drew many of his troops for this expedition from the numeri
of Arabia and the other provinces of Oriens. Marcellinus Comes puts its strength at
2000 men. Chronicle 33.

Ps.-Joshua gives Areobindus full credit for this success. In contrast, Procopius makes
no reference to him at all in Wars 1.8.21-22.

I.e. it was calculated that Kawad would come to terms sooner if the forces blockading
Amid were used in manoeuvre warfare by bringing Persian territory under attack. The
direction of Areobindus’ raid can be reconstructed. After starting from Amid, he will
have crossed the Tigris, passed south of Martyropolis and entered Persian Arzanene,
riding round Tur ‘Abdin clockwise on the Persian side of the Tigris. He then took his
force back across the Tigris, making past Nisibis. Since no place names are given, it is
unlikely that he attacked the Persian fortresses of Bezabhde or Seert. After the battle of
Melitene in 576, the Persian king Khusrau I took his army through Armenia Interior and
Arzanene, but the Romans seem to have cut off his retreat along the north bank of the
Tigris, for he turned into mountains of Kardach (Carduchia-Hakkari) and hacked a road
through rock and virgin forest. John of Ephesus, HE 6.10 (Payne Smith, 398).
Theophylact Simocatta, Historiae 3.14.11-3.15. 1 (Whitby-Whitby, 95). The route along
the north bank of the Tigris does not seem to be mountainous. Dillemann, Haute
Mesopotamie, Figs. Ill (especially), IV, XVII and XVIII. Cf. Michael Whitby, The
Emperor Maurice and his Historian (Oxford, 1988), 255. The 30,000 captives and
120,000 animals would perhaps be equivalent to the population of some 30 villages. Ps.-
Joshua gives the impression that the men of these villages were all killed. The few
figures we have on village sizes come from Anatolia. F. R. Trombley, ‘Paganism in the
Greek world at the end of antiquity’, HTR 78 (1985), 331, n. 25.

For a photo of the steppe between Nisibis and Tur ‘Abdin, see Dillemann, Haute
Mesopotamie, Plates I and VII. On the site, see Sarre-Herzfeld, Archdologische Reise II
336-346.

TRANSLATION

force and went out [299] to seize (the booty) from them. They made as
if to flee, and the Persians became bold and pursued them, but when
they had gone a long way from their own positions, the Romans came
up out of hiding and routed them. Out of about seven thousand men
not a single one escaped. Furthermore, Mushleq the Armenian, who
(had been) under Persian rule, went over with his whole army and gave
his allegiance to the Romans.

The year 816 ( = 504/5 A.D.)

The survivors who were left in Amid from its population, and those
who had escaped the sword, were in great distress and torment on
account of famine.'^'^'^ The Persians feared that they would deliver the
city to the Romans and (therefore) tied up all the men who were there

It must be remembered that Areobindus would have executed the raid with his most
battleworthy elements iyiz. the numeri directly under his command), with many of
Patricius’ praesental troops left behind to blockade Amid. Ps.-Joshua gives no figures,
but the Roman force must have been quite large, near the 12,000 Areobindus had with
him in 503. It was a task of considerable difficulty to keep the captives and animals
moving and get them across the Tigris. The expedition covered c. 400 km., and must
have taken at least a month to complete. Ps.-Joshua’s brevity somewhat telescopes what
was clearly an operational raid on a grand scale. Procopius omits it from his narrative at
or before Wars 1.8.21.

Mushleq (nlra») may be identical with Mushlegh, a prince of the Mamikonian

family. If so, his domains lay in the parts of Taron and Tayk’ in Persarmenia that lie
opposite Roman Asthianene. Adontz, Armenia in the Period of Justinian^ 16-18, 21f,
100. See Map II. Cf Honigmann, Ostgrenze, Map I. In 484, Mushegh fought on the side
of Vahan I Mamikonian in the revolt against Peroz, as suggested by Luther, Chronik,
205. Lazarus of Pharp, Armenian History^ 77, 78, 81, 83 (Sanspeur, 125-136), The pre¬
battle speeches given by Lazarus have a strong flavour of ‘holy war’. In 504, ps.-
Joshua’s Mushleq evidently hoped for permanent status as a Roman ally, once he saw
the war going in their favour. It is not clear whether the Armenian satrap joined forces
with Areobindus during the raid or sent envoys afterward, nor is the upshot of his
defection known. He presumably remained a Roman ally during the seven-year period of
the truce (506-513 A.D.). Cf below, § 98, n. 543. It is doubtful that all princes of
Persarmenia defected. Cf Blockley, East Roman Foreign Policy, 220, n. 38.

It is evident that there were many more people in Amid than the 80,000 dead carried
out through the North Gate in January 503. Ps.-Zachariah confirms that slaughter was
controlled and there were many survivors. Cf above, § 53, nn. 296, 299. It must be
remembered that, although Amid was not a large site, it served as a point of safety for
villagers from the city’s territorium and Armenian refugees pushed ahead during the
Persian drive southward from Theodosiopolis-Erzerum and Martyropolis in August and
September 502.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

and threw them into the amphitheatre/"^^ Thus (the men of Amid)
perished of hunger or of interminable imprisonment. (The Persian
soldiers) gave some of their provisions to the women, because they
committed adultery with them and needed them to grind and bake for
them, but when the supply became insufficient for (the soldiers), they
abandoned (the women) and left them without food. During this year
none of them had anything except a daily handful of barley, and they
had absolutely no meat, wine, or any other item of provision. Being
greatly afraid of the Romans, they did not budge at all from their
stations, instead making for themselves small ovens on the wall and
bringing up hand-mills. They ground their handful of barley at their
positions and baked and ate (it there)."^"^^ They also brought up big
kneading-troughs and, placing them between the battlements and filling
them with earth, they planted small vegetables in them and ate anything
which sprouted in them.

To tell what the women did there will perhaps not be believed by
those who come after us, (but) at the present time, [300] among those
who strive to be informed about affairs, there is no one who has not
heard of all that happened, however far away he may be from us.
Many women met together and secretly conspired among themselves.
They would go out furtively into the streets of the city at dusk or dawn,
and anyone they came across whom they could overpower, whether
woman, child [or] old man, they would pull indoors, kill and eat, either
boiled or roasted. When it was detected by the odour of the roasting
and the matter was made known to the marzban there, he tortured and
killed many of the women and warned the rest not to do this again nor
to kill anyone. He did, however, allow them to eat those who were
(already) dead, and this they did quite openly. (While some) ate the
flesh of dead human beings, the others gathered and ate shoes, old

445

KuvriyLov.

The 2,500 or so Persians left in Amid (originally about 3,000) had by this time to
cover some 4.5 km. of wall, an average of one fighter per 1.8 m. of frontage, which
should have worked to their advantage. The south and eastern faces of the wall were less
vulnerable because of the escarpment below. This would have allowed the Persians to
concentrate large numbers of troops on the west and north faces, where the danger of
Roman attack was greatest because of the shallow gradient of the plateau outside the
walls. The circuit wall was thus not thinly held. Their concentrated fire proved
sufficiently dangerous to force the Romans to give up all thought of assaulting the city.
See Map V. Cf. Gabriel, Voyages archeologiques I 92f. and Fig. 69.

TRANSLATION

soles, and other horrible things from the streets and squares. The
Roman troops, however, lacked nothing. On the contrary, everything
was supplied to them in its due season, for by order of the emperor it
was sent down (to them) with great care. There were more things for
sale in their camps than could be found in the cities, whether food,
drink, shoes, or clothing. Bakers in all the cities were baking
boukellaton and sending it to them. (This was) especially so with the
Edessenes, for the citizens (there) baked in their houses six hundred and
thirty thousand modii during this year too by order of Calliopius the
hyparch, not counting what was baked by the villagers throughout the
whole chora and the bakers, both foreign and native."*"^^

During this year [301] the bishop. Mar Peter, once again went up to 78
the emperor to persuade him to remit the synteleia. The emperor
reacted angrily to him and criticised him for abandoning the care of the
poor at a time like this and going up to (the emperor). He said that God
himself would have put it into his heart to do (such) a favour for ‘the
blessed city’, if that were right, without human persuasion. But while
the bishop was still there, the emperor despatched the reprieve for all
Mesopotamia through someone else, without (Peter) being aware of
it."^"^^ He also remitted a third of the synteleia to the people of
Mabbug."^"^^

The Roman officers besieging Amid were making forays into Persian 79

territory, taking booty and captives and wreaking havoc. The Persians

Calliopius was still acting as praetorian prefect of Oriens vacans in the zone of
operations. Cf. above, § 55.

The presence of bishops at their sees in time of war was considered essential to the
maintenance of urban morale. Michael Whitby, 'Deus Nobiscum: Christianity, warfare
and morale in late antiquity’. Modus Operandiy edd. M. Austin, J. Harries and C. Smith
(London, 1998), 200f. In general: W. Liebeschuetz, ‘The rise of the bishop in the
Christian Roman empire and the successor kingdoms’, Electrum 1 (1997), 113-125.
Anastasius’ harshness was partly a consequence of the fact that Peter’s journey to
Constantinople seemed publicly to question the emperor’s provident concern for the
welfare of the empire’s citizens in Osrhoene and Mesopotamia, where tax remissions
had been a matter of policy since the indiction of 500/1. Above, § 39 and 66. Below, §
92 and 99.

Mabbug-Hierapolis was a staging area for troops and supplies entering Osrhoene
from Euphratesia and Syria I. The citizens there will have performed various corvees or
ayyapetaL in connection with this, hence the tax remission for the following year, 505/6.
The emperor also sponsored the construction of a new aqueduct. It was probably
completed in 505, just before the tax remission took effect. Capizzi, L’imperatore
AnastasiOy 214.

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

withdrew before them, crossing the river Tigris, and met up there with
the Persian cavalry, who were gathering to make an attack on the
Romans. Thus encouraged (to stand) against them, they halted on the
far side of the Tigris, but the Romans crossed after them and routed all
the Persian cavalry, which consisted of about ten thousand men."^^^
They looted the property of all those who had fled, burned many
villages, killed all the men in them of twelve years or above, and took
captive the women and children."^^* In fact, the magistros had thus
ordered all officers, that if any of the Roman soldiers were found
sparing a male of twelve years or above, he should be executed instead
of him, and whatever village they would enter, they should not leave a
single house standing in it. On this account he had detached some
strong men from the soldiers, and also numerous villagers who joined
them as they went down (into Persian territory), and after the roofs had
been burnt and the fire had gone out, these people pulled down the
walls. They also cut down [302] and destroyed the vineyards, olives,
and all other trees."*^^ The Roman Tayyaye also crossed the Tigris in
front of them, plundering, capturing, and destroying all they could find

This was a major action, fought in Sophene on the north bank of the Tigris. The
Persian force was evidently concentrating for an attempt to raise the siege of Amid.

’ Ps.-Joshua has once again telescoped events. These scorched earth tactics would not
have been put into effect until the pursuit of the broken Persian cavalry reached the
frontier at the Kallath-Nymphius river and crossed into Arzanene. The rule of killing all
males at the age of twelve years or above was evidently in force the previous year, when
Areobindus’ army made its great ride round Tur ‘Abdin, as the captives are named as
women and children and the army is said to have killed 10,000 ‘Persian and Armenian
Jmen]’. Above, § 75.

Roman soldiers seem to have hesitated to kill adolescents below the age of military
service in the one-sided fighting of 504/5. Ps.-Joshua is our only evidence for this.

It is clear from Procopius at Wars 1.8.21-22 that Celer’s troops crossed the Kallath-
Nymphius river into Arzanene south of Martyropolis. His description of Celer’s
generalship is derisory and misleading, and contains many serious omissions:
‘Meanwhile the other Roman army came up; but they did nothing worthy of mention
(sic) because no supreme commander (airroKpariop) had been appointed for the war, but
the generals, being equal in rank with each other, opposed each others’ plans and did not
wish to [concentrate] into a [single] army. But Celer, with the men under his command,
crossed the Nymphius river and made a raid against Arzanene ... So they plundered the
villages there and returned not much later, and the whole raid was accomplished in a
short time.’ Cf. above, § 64, 75.

TRANSLATION

in Persian territory.'^^'* Since I know that you carefully examine
everything, your holiness will well understand that this war was the
cause of much enrichment for the Tayyaye of both sides, and that they
did as they pleased in both empires."^^^

When Kawad saw that the Romans were destroying the region and
there was no one to stop them, [he wanted] to come and meet them. He
therefore sent an astabid to the magistros to [speak] about peace, along
with a force of about twenty thousand."^^^ He sent all the eminent
people whom he had taken captive from Amid, as well as Peter whom
he had taken from Ashparin and Basil (who was) among the hostages
he had taken from Edessa. He also sent the corpse of dux Olympius,
who had gone down on an embassy to him and died there. He sent it
sealed in a coffin to show that he had died of a natural death, and his
servants and those who had gone down with him testified (that this was
true). The magistros received them and sent them on to Edessa, except
for the governor of Amid"^^^ and comes Peter. He was very angry (with
them) and wanted to put them to death, saying that it was on account of

It is far from clear that the Romans and their Arab allies rode round Tur ‘Abdin on
the Persian side of the Tigris a second time in 504/5. The lack of place names makes it
difficult to estimate the depth of this penetration.

Hostile and ‘friendly’ Arabs were a constant source of affliction to the Roman
provincials. Trombley, ‘War and society in rural Syria’, 163, 172. Cf. Isaac, Limits of
Empire, 68-77.

Viz. Celer had the authority to negotiate peace as the highest-ranking civil official
present in Oriens, in association with the highest-ranking military officer Areobindus,
who was the immediate superior of Patricius and Pharazman, the latter of whom would
soon take over Hypatius’ praesental army . Cf. below, § 88 n. 503. The Persian force
presumably kept to the north bank of the Tigris during the negotiations. The Persian
official was probably the Eran-spahbad, the general-in-chief who supervised military
operations and procurement. He was frequently charged with negotiating treaties until
the reign of Kawad’s successor, Khusrau I. Christensen, L'lran sous les sassanides,
130f Cf Procopius’ transliteration of spahbod (’AoTrePeSog). Wars 1.9.24 and above,
§59,n. 361.

Cf above, §§57 (Peter), 61 (Basil), and 51 (Olympius). As dux of Mesopotamia,
Olympius had been partly responsible for the defeat at Tell-Beshmai in November 502.
Above, § 51. He seems not to have been cashiered. Patricius, magister militum
praesentalis, kept his command, despite the rout at Opadna. Above, § 57. Ps-Joshua
nowhere mentions the date and purpose of Olympius’ mission to Kawad. The omission
is at first sight a narrative lapse. He died of disease (eTeOvqKe vootp) while in captivity.
Theophanes, Chron. AM 5998 (de Boor 1148, line 26f.).

Viz. Cyrus. Ps.-Joshua again uses the locative expression *dayyana of Amid’,
referring to the provincial capital, but the correct form is ‘governor of Mesopotamia’
{viz. praeses Mesopotamiae, 6 fiyepwv Tqg McaoTTOTaptas).

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

their laxity that the places they were guarding had been delivered (to
the enemy)."^^^ On this point the Persians (themselves) testified that the
wall of Amid was impregnable.

The astabid requested and pleaded with (the magistros) to give him
in return for those he had brought (with him) the Persians who were
besieged in Amid, for even though their fear led them to keep holding
out, they were nevertheless in great distress from hunger. But the
magistros said, ‘Do not mention to me the matter of these men, because
[303] they are besieged in our city and are our slaves.’ The astabid
said to him, ‘Then allow me to send provisions to them, for it does not
reflect well on you that your slaves should die of hunger. It is easy for
you to kill them whenever you wish.’ (The magistros) said to him,
‘Send (it to them)!’ The astabid then said, ‘Swear to me, you and all
the officers and army commanders who are with you, that no one will
kill those whom I send.’"^^^ They all swore to him, except Nonnosus the
dux who was not with them by design."^^* The magistros had left him
out for this very reason, that he should not be bound by any oath if it
were taken. The astabid therefore sent three hundred camels
carrying sacks of bread, but arrows were also placed inside them.
Nonnosus attacked them, taking (the sacks) from (the camels) and
killing those who were with them. When the astabid complained about

459

Cyrus’ fault as civil governor of Mesopotamia lay in the ‘indiscipline’ of the defence,
viz. lapses of security that allowed persons, and eventually the Persians as well, to enter
and leave the city by the sewer at the Tripyrgia unobserved. He may also have been
criticised for his intransigence in the negotiations with Kawad about purchasing the
city’s safety and procuring the Persians’ withdrawal. Cf. above, § 53 n. 292, §§ 57, 58.
Peter’s lax policing of civilians at Ashparin-Sifrios permitted them to negotiate directly
with the Persians and expel him from the town with his troops. Anastasius considered
executing the latter, notwithstanding his subsequent ruse to aid the defenders of Tella-
Constantina. Cf above, § 58.

Procopius’ chronology is quite confused at Wars 1.9.1-4. He puts Patricius’ second
siege of Amid, which began between late December 503-March 504, (above, § 66) after
Areobindus had returned to Constantinople in the winter of 505/6. Below, § 87. Pace
Procopius, ps.-Joshua is emphatic that negotiatons began before the onset of severe
weather in the winter of 504/5. Below, § 81. In addition, ps.-Joshua disproves
Procopius’ supposition that the Persians successfully concealed their lack of provisions
in Amid. Finally, although there was some risk of another Persian relief force coming
UJ5, a first such expedition had already been driven off before talks began. Above, § 79.

* (probably from Persian, cf. Brockelmann, Lexicon Syriacum^ 436).

Similarly below, § 97 (‘negotiations’). Nonnosus (or Nonius) was probably Olympius’
successor as dux Mesopotamiae. ‘Nonius’, PLRE II 787.

Celer’s disingenuousness proved wise. See below.

TRANSLATION

this and asked the magistros to punish the perpetrator of the deed, the
magistros said to him, T do not know who did this, because of the size
of the army I have, but if you know who it is and you are able to take
vengeance on him, I will not stop you. ’ However, the astabid was too
frightened (to pursue) this matter, and (confined himself to) persuading
(him to make) peace.

Many days after (the astabid) pleaded (for peace), it became very 81
cold, with a great deal of snow and ice.^^^ One by one the Roman
soldiers deserted their camps, with everyone carting off any booty
which had come to him to his own home, while even those who stayed
and did not go off to their own homes went into Telia, Resh‘aina, or
Edessa to take refuge from the cold."^^^ When the astabid saw that the
soldiers were becoming weak and were not (sufficiently) <resilient> to
withstand [304] the severe weather, he sent (this message) to the
magistros: ‘Either make peace and let the Persians go out of Amid, or
accept (the continuation of) the war.’ The magistros ordered comes
Justin to re-gather the army, but he could not (do it).^^^ When he
realised that the bulk of the soldiers had dispersed away (and left) him,
he made peace and allowed the Persians to go out of Amid, on
condition that the deal was approved and ratified [by both] rulers; if
not, the war would continue.''*® When the Roman emperor heard what
had happened, he ordered a store to be set up in every city, particularly
Amid, to break down enmity and strengthen peace, and he sent presents
and gifts to Kawad through a man by the name of Leon, and a table-
service entirely of gold. The extent of the suffering, however, of those 82

Cf. Procopius, Wars 1.9.1-2.

Cf. Procopius’ mention of the Roman generals’ anxiety that the men would soon
begin to desert. Wars 1.9.2.

Viz. Justin pursued the deserters with a small force of reliable troops, but was unable
to retrieve them, because they had scattered southward on the roads leading to Osrhoene.
There is nothing about this in Procopius. Justin seems to have held the rank of comes in
one of the palatine guard formations that had been mobilised with the praesental armies.
Cf. Tustinus 4’, PLRE II 648f.

This is the last mention of the Persians in Amid, who evacuated the city at this
juncture. Celer and the son of Glon (evidently one of the marzbans left in Amid)
negotiated the hand-over. Procopius Wars 1.9.4. Ps.-Zachariah gives 1,100 pounds in
gold (79,200 solidi) as the price Celer paid for them to go. HE 7.5 (Hamilton-Brooks,
163). The story was well known, but ps.-Joshua fails to mention it, perhaps out of dislike
at money being given to an enemy who had destroyed so much of Osrhoene and
Mesopotamia. Cf. below, § 98, where he is also silent about the annual payments to the
Persians agreed in the treaty.

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THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

Edessenes who took the grain (for the store) down to Amid, is known
only to those who were present at the event. The majority of them died
on the journey, together with their baggage animals.

The virtuous John, bishop of Amid, had died before the Persians
besieged (the city), and its clergy had gone up to the holy, pious,
divinely-adorned, valiant and glorious Mar Flavian, patriarch of
Antioch,"*^^ (to ask) him to appoint a bishop for them. (The patriarch)
treated them with honour all the time they were there, and afterwards,
<when> the virtuous Nonnus, priest and steward of the church of Amid,
was released from captivity, the clergy persuaded the patriarch and he
made him their [305] bishop."^^^ After the virtuous Nonnus had
received the bishopric, he sent his chorepiskopos Thomas to
Constantinople to oversee the Amidenes who were there, and to request
some donation from the emperor. (The Amidenes) who were there

467

The supply column took either Dillemann’s Route d’Armenie (from Edessa) or his
Route de Theodosiopolis (from the south), both of them secondary roads. See Map II.
The first passes across the northern slopes of Mt. Aisouma (Karaca Dagh) at an altitude
of over 1000 m. The latter crosses the saddle between Mt. Aisouma and Tur ‘Abdin.
These routes do not seem to have passed through populated areas, hence the danger of
winter travel. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie, Fig. XVII.

On ps.-Joshua’s favourable attitude to Flavian, cf above, xxvii-xxviii (and contrast
that to Philoxenus/Xenaias, § 30). Flavian was patriarch of Antioch from 498 until 512,
when he was deposed and replaced by the staunchly monophysite Severus. Since he was
not restored to the see after Severus’ deposition in 519, it is likely that by then he had
either died or become too elderly to take up his former position. Cf A. de Halleux,
‘Flavien U\DHGEXVll (1971), 386-388.

John the metropolitan died shortly before the siege of Amid began in October 502.
Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.3 (Hamilton-Brooks, 155). The ‘steward’ (oikonomos) or chief
administrator of a local church was normally a presbyter and had charge of the
construction and maintenance of church buildings, collected rents on church lands,
oversaw hostels, hospitals, poorhouses and orphanages, and supervised the dole. His
knowledge of finance often made him a plausible candidate for the bishop’s seat when it
fell vacant. Cf. H Leclercq, ‘Econome’, DACL IV/2, 1884-1886, mostly drawn from
Latin canon law, but with epigraphic examples. Cf IGLS, no. 2098 (Burj al-Qa‘y,
Phoenice Libanensis 539/40 A.D.), where two oikonomos-pxQshyXQxs completed a
building, perhaps a church. See also IGLSy nos. 774 (Antioch 387 A.D.) and 778
(Antioch, 420’s), where oikonomoi supervised the laying of apse mosaics in churches.
For illustrative texts, see: ‘oLKOvopog 3’, Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, 944.

It is conceivable, but by no means certain, that this Thomas is the addressee of Jacob
of Serug’s Letter 3 (ed. Olinder, p. 17). On Nonnus and Thomas, cf Honigmann,
Eveques et eveches, 100.

The chorepiskopos was a subordinate of the bishop having charge of the rural
churches in the city’s territorium. There is an important local example from across the

TRANSLATION

101

made an agreement with him and persuaded the emperor that Thomas
himself should be their bishop. The emperor acceded to their request
and informed the patriarch that he should not resist them,"^^^ and also
gave them the governor they wanted. Emperor and patriarch gave
gifts'*^'^ to the church of Amid and a considerable (sum of) money for
<distribution> to the poor. On this account, all those who were
roaming around in other regions gathered there. Every day they would
carry the bodies of the dead out of Amid and then receive their
appointed (sum).

The imperial eunuch Urbicius, who had made large charitable
donations in the district of Jerusalem and other places, also went down
there and gave a denarius to each (inhabitant). From there he came

frontier in Euphratesia. In the decade after the Persian War of 502-506, Maronius the
chorepiskopos was active in the parts around Rusafa-Sergiopolis in Euphratesia, which
lies not far south-southwest of Sura and Callinicum, in the Arab transhumant
campgrounds and the settlements of Greek-Arab agriculturalists. He is commemorated
as the ‘relative’ of archbishop Sergius of Rusafa-Sergiopolis on a lintel inscription of
517/8 that probably marked the completion of the fortress’s Basilica B. SEG 41, nos.
1537-1538. See also E. Kirsten, ‘Chorbischof, RAC II 1105-1114; H. Leclercq,
‘Choreveques’, DACL III/l, 1443-1452, with epigraphic data. For an excellent series of
illustrative texts, see: ‘xwpeTTLaKOTTog’, Lampe, Patristic Greek Lexicon, 1536. Cf. M.
Mundell Mango, ‘Sergiopolis’, ODB, 1877f.

This barely hints at what must have been an unpleasant controversy between the
parties of the two bishops. Ps.-Joshua seems to have favoured the original nominee
Nonnus, whom he calls ‘the virtuous’, and to have disliked Thomas, whose subsequent
role in the planning and construction of Dara-Anastasiopolis are curiously omitted. Cf.
below, § 90. The incident is overlooked in the standard ecclesiatical histories of the
period for its want of relevance to the christological controversies, e.g. P. Charanis,
Church and State in the Later Roman Empire: the Religious Policy of Anastasius the
(Madison, 1939), passim.

‘Anonymous 80’, PLRE II1231.

MS.: ‘a gift’.

Emperor Anastasius also financed the construction of a new church dedicated to the
Forty Martyrs, which was completed in 512. He seems as well to have supplied the
monies used by bishop John to build a bridge over the Tigris. The new bridge was
perhaps constructed on the foundations of an earlier one built by John Sa‘ora,
archbishop of Amid (483/4-502), as the Qartamin chronicle of 819 indicates. Palmer,
Monk and Mason, 116f. The damage Amid suffered during the war inspired these
donations. Capizzi, L ’imperatore Anastasio, 215f.

Syriac: viz. one solidus (= 420 folles at the tariff of 498). Urbicius had

served as praepositus sacri cubiculi under seven emperors (not continuously), and was
in office until at least 491. He had acquired great wealth and must have retired from
office before he travelled to Oriens in 504/5. An example of Urbicius’ pieties in
Jerusalem is found in Theodosius’ De Situ Terrae Sanctae of c. 575. It reports he had an

102

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

to Edessa, and gave a trimesion to every woman who wished to have it,
and a drachma to every child. All except a few of the women took it,
whether or not they were in need.

During this year, after the war was over, wild animals started to
attack us. Because of the large number of corpses resulting from the
battles, they had developed a taste for human bodies, so when the
bodies of the slain had rotted away and vanished, these animals would
go right into the villages, seize children, and eat them. They would also
attack solitary men on the roads and mangle them. So frightened did
(people) become that during the threshing season no one in the whole
chora would spend the night on his threshing-floor without [306] a hut,
for fear of the savage beasts. However, through the help of our Lord,
who at all times is concerned for us and in his mercy delivers us from
all temptations, some of them were brought down by villagers who
speared them and sent their dead bodies to Edessa, while others were

^*70

captured by hunters who ensnared and brought them (here) alive.
Every one saw (them here) and gave glory to God, who has said, T will

altar carved from a rock on which the mother of Christ had supposedly rested; a miracle
prevented him from having it shipped to Constantinople, and so it was installed in the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre instead. ‘Urbicius T, PLRE II, 1188-1190. His activities
in Osrhoene and Mesopotamia were evidently an unplanned extension of this
pilgrimage.

The trimesion (TpipLOOLOv, TpipT^OLOv or Latin tremissis) was a fractional
denomination of the gold currency, one-third of a solidus. Drachma is here used to
represent the Late Roman miliaresion, the largest unit of silver currency. It was tariffed
at 12 to the solidus. After the currency reform of 498, one miliaresion would have had
an exchange value of 140 folles.

Cf. Matt, 6 : 13.

479

Carnivorous animals were a serious problem in Osrhoene and Mesopotamia even at
the best of times. Acta S. Dometii Martyris 6 (Van den Gheyn, 295, line 16f.). On Tur
‘Abdin, see John of Ephesus, ‘Addai the chorepiskopos\ Lives of the Eastern Saints 8
(Brooks, PO 17, 128). Cf. Isaac, Limits of Empire^ 182. An infestation of wild beasts
took place in the villages of Mt. Lebanon in Phoenice Libanensis between c. 442-460.
Its cause is unknown. On the recommendation of St. Symeon Stylites the Elder,
apotropaic cairns of stones marked with crosses were set up at the boundaries (opoi) of
the villages and liturgies were led by the presbyters for three days. The monks of Dayr
Sim‘an near Telanissos in Syria I later claimed that no wild beast crossed the ‘magic
circles’, and showed their skins to pilgrims as proof that ‘God performed a great sign.’
Trombley, HRC II 189f. On village boundaries in Mesopotamia being protected by
monastic magic, see John of Ephesus, ‘Abraham the recluse’, Lives of the Eastern Saints
7 (Brooks, PO 17,123f.).

TRANSLATION

103

put the fear and dread of you upon every animal of the earth.Thus
although destruction, famine, plague, captivity, wild animals, and other
recorded and unrecorded punishments were sent upon us on account of
our sins, nevertheless in his grace he has delivered us from all of them.
And through your prayer<s> he has also on account of his mercies
given strength to me, inadequate (though I am), to record as best I can
some of the things which happened, as a memorial for those who
suffered them, and for the instruction of those coming after us, who, if
they so desire, may be able to become wise by the little I have written.

In fact, what I have left out is more than what I have recorded, for I
said at the outset that I could not (cover) everything. Indeed, if the
sufferings experienced by each person individually were to be
recorded, a large book would not be sufficient for the lengthy narratives
that would be created. But from what others are writing, you must be
aware that when those who came to our assistance ostensibly as
saviours"^^^ were going down and coming up, they looted us in a manner
little short of enemies. They threw many poor people out of their beds
and slept in them, (leaving) their owners to lie on the ground at a time
of cold weather.They ejected others from their houses, going in and
living in them. Others’ cattle [307] they led away by force as if
plundering (an enemy). They stripped some people’s clothing off them
and took it away. They used rough treatment on others for the sake of
(obtaining) anything whatever. In the streets they <denounced>'^^^ and
<insulted>'^^'^ others for the smallest reason. They brazenly plundered
the meagre provisions which everyone had, and the stockpile belonging
to a few individuals in the villages and cities.They attacked many

Literally: ‘in the name of saviours’. On the use of the Greek awTfip in Syria as an
epithet for emperors, magistri militum and praetorian prefects, see cf. IGLS^ nos. 2524
(Salamis, Syria II, 6th c.), 1809 (Adrona, Syria II, 547/8 A.D.), and implicitly in IGLS,
no. 288 (Anasartha, Syria I, probably 594/5). Trombley, ‘War and society in rural Syria’,
173, 188f.

What follows is a description of the behaviour of the Roman soldiery during the
winter of 504/5, and possibly even before. It is difficult to say if the principal culprits
were the deserters from Amid, or if the problem was more general. Cf. above, § 81. On
this, see Trombley, ‘War and society in rural Syria’, 172.

Read with Wright. MS.:

Read ^.■unuw with Wright. MS.: (‘injured’).

The regular procedure for soldiers’ acquiring their annonae {viz. pay in kind in the
form of wheat) is set forth in a decree of Anastasius at Cod. lust. 12.37.19. The decree is

104

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

on the roads. And because there were not enough shelters and inns in
the city for them, they stayed with craftsmen in their stalls."*^^ In full
view of everyone they had their way over the women in the streets and
houses. They took oil, wood, salt, and other things for their own
needs from the old women, widowed or poor, and they stopped them

undated, but, from the position it occupies in the article De Erogatione Militaris
AnnonaCy it belongs in or after Arcadius’ tenure as praetorian prefect of Oriens, c. 491-
505. Cf. ‘Arcadius 6’, PLRE II, 131. The law repeats the provisions of at least one
previous constitution (Sidra^Lg) on abuses in the system of commuting annonae in kind
into coin. It is in Greek and must have been issued to the praetorian prefect of Oriens.
Nothing in its language suggests that it was a response to the expropriations that ps.-
Joshua describes here. Cf. Isaac, Limits of EmpirCy 285-291.

A comprehensive law of 398 specifically exempted shops (ergasteria) from forced
billeting, but a law given by Marcian c. 450-455 suggests that the rules were often
violated. The specific objection to this practice was the damage animals might inflict on
the wares therein (mercimonia). This reflects the increasing importance of cavalry. Both
decrees were repeated in the Codex lustinianus. Cod. Theod. 7.8.5 (= Cod. lust. 12.40.
2.1); Cod. lust. 12.40.10.6 ( ... exceptis videlicet ergasteriis, quae in plateis vel
angiportis esse noscuntur). Both laws belong to the section De Metatis et EpidemeticiSy
of which most were issued to the magister officiorumy who apparently had the task of
assigning billets to comitatenses while in the zone of operations. Cf. below, § 95. Celer
had neglected the problem because of more pressing business elsewhere, namely the
peace negotiations with the Sasanid spahbad at Amid. Once general terms were agreed,
he departed for Constantinople immediately. Cf. below, § 87. The rules for billets are
clearly defined in imperial decrees dating back to the 4th c. See especially Isaac, Limits
of EmpirOy 297-304. Cf. Jones, LREy 630-632. The many existing inns were insufficient
to accommodate the large army concentrated around Edessa. It is not an accident that the
epigraphy of Osrhoene and Mesopotamia mentions so many inns, both urban and rural,
for Osrhoene was full of transit routes of armies and traders alike, particularly in the
‘Arab; e.g. Acta S. Dometii Martyris 6 (Van den Gheyn, 296, line 12). Cf. the foundation
of two inns at Telia, one a pandocheion by bishop Samuel in 513, the other by the
xenodochos Abraam in the time of bishop Abraam. In our view, the latter dates more
plausibly to 556 than 456, because the inscription uses the omicron-upsilon ligature (not
common until the late 5th c.). Oppenheim-Lucas, ‘Griechische und lateinische
Inschriften aus Syrien, Mesopotamien und Kleinasien’, nos. 92 and 94. A certain Apios
the deacon founded a hostel at Amid in the 5-6th century. CIG IV 8653. Gabriel,
Voyages archeologiques I 134. Cf. the pandocheion and other installations some 17 km.
southwest of Edessa. Founded in 260, it may have been one of the mansiones of the
public post road between Edessa and Batnan-Serug. SEG 36 (1986), no. 1277. Cf. Isaac,
Limits ofEmpirOy 177f., 182f., 297f.

487

The folk memory of the Edessans was alive to the violation of Syrian women by the
Gothic soldiery, as found in the story of the widow Sophia and her daughter Euphemia.
A Gothic soldier bigamously married the latter in 396. Some years later, when the Goth
returned on campaign, an unnamed magister militum executed the man for violating
Roman nuptial law and unlawful enslavement. Euphemia and the Goth 5-7, 41-44.

TRANSLATION

105

doing their own work in order to serve them."^^^ In a nutshell, they
oppressed everyone, nobles and commoners, and no one escaped
receiving some (bit) of their wickedness. Even the local rulers, who
were appointed to keep order and assign them their billets, put out their
hands for bribes. As they took (them) from everyone, they spared no
one, but after some days they would send additional (soldiers) to those
(people) to whom they had previously sent (troops)."**^ They even
billeted them with priests and deacons, although they had an imperial
letter"^^® that they should not billet (the soldiers) with them."*^^ But why
should I struggle to recite many things which, no doubt, are too much
even for those greater than I?

After crossing back west over the river Euphrates, the magistros
went to the emperor, Areobindus (went) to Antioch, Patricius to
Melitene, Pharazman to Apameia, Theodore to Damascus, and

492

Calliopius to Mabbug. [308] Thus Edessa had a little peace, and the

This was an abuse of the legitimate expropriation of ‘soldier’s wood and salt’, the so-
called salgamum, which had been in existence since the time of Diocletian. The practice
was banned by three 4th c. laws, but was once again recognised as a legitimate
requisition in the 6th c. Isaac, Limits of Empire, 300 and n. 199. Jones, LRE, 1263, n. 51.

The ‘sending out’ of soldiers refers to the common method they used to collect their
annonae, Cf. above, § 86 n. 488. The law is in Greek and certainly went to the
praetorian prefect of Oriens. The key passage states: ‘If [a soldier] receives [the
annonae] in kind, let him take what was provided in the territorium in accordance with
the scrutiny of the God-beloved bishop of the places and the most brilliant defensor of
the city.’ The ‘local rulers’ were evidently the city councillors {viz. curiales, decuriones,
pouXeurat) and executive boards {viz. duumviri, axpaTqyoL), who easily circumvented
the objections of the bishops and the negligible influence of the defensor civitatis
(exSiKO? Tfj? TToXeo)?) in the confused situation of the winter of 504/5. On the functions
and weaknesses of the latter institution, see Jones, LRE, 479f., 726f., 756f., etc. Ps.-
Joshua’s criticisms here certainly reflect the attitudes of the ecclestiastical authorities.

490

OOKpa.

Clergy are exempted from forced billeting at Cod. Theod. 16.2.8. (343 A.D.).

The provisional truce with Kawad made the retirement of the Roman armies possible.
The numeri and limitanei commanded by the duces of Osrhoene and Mesopotamia
undoubtedly remained in their provincial billets. The cities named were the provincial
capitals of Syria I, Armenia II, Syria II, Phoenice Libanensis, and Euphratesia
respectively, and had been outside the main zone of operations between 502-505. Food
production in their territoria had not been disrupted by the depopulation and looting of
agricultural capital that affected Osrhoene and Mesopotamia. The burden of
provisioning the troops (who certainly accompanied their generals) was thus lifted from
the hard-pressed people of the latter two provinces and shifted elsewhere. The different
commands must have remained together. Thus, the troops of Oriens will have gone with

106

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

493

small number of people left in it were delighted. Governor Eulogius
was diligent in rebuilding it, [and the emperor gave] him two hundred
pounds for the expenses of reconstruction.'^^'^ He rebuilt and renewed
the [entire] outer wall encircling the city, and also renewed and restored
the two aqueducts"^^^ coming into (it) from the village of Tell-Zema and
from Maudad."^^^ He also rebuilt and completed the demosion which
had collapsed, renewed his own praitorion, and did a great deal of
restoration throughout the entire city. The emperor also gave twenty
pounds to the bishop for expenses and the renewal of the wall,"*^^ while

Areobindus down the Orontes to Antioch, the ‘first* praesental army with Patricius up
the Euphrates to Melitene, and the ‘second’ praesental army with Pharazman (who had
already replaced Hypatius) up the Orontes to Apameia. The role played by Damascus
and Mabbug is less certain. Mabbug must have accommodated the numeri of
Euphratesia, and Damascus the local numeri of the limes of Phoenice along with those of
Arabia and Palestine. It would have been risky to send the latter back to their provincial
billets, because operations could resume at any time. As it turned out, some of the
Lakhmid phylarch’s tribal clients did not to recognise the truce and went raiding. On
sites, see C. Watzinger and K. Wulzinger, Damaskus. Die antike Stadt (Berlin-Leipzig,
1921). J.-P. Rey-Coquais, ‘Apamea’ and ‘Damascus’, PECS, 66f, 256f

The ‘small number of people’ was consequence of the famine and migration from the
zone of operations between 500-505 A.D.

Viz. two hundred pounds in gold or 14,400 solidi. Eulogius was governor (praeses) of
Osrhoene in 504/5. ‘Eulogius 7’, PLRE II, 419. Capizzi, Llmperatore Anastasia, 224f.
Ps.-Joshua’s use of the locative form ‘governor of Edessa’ is analogous to his use of city
names for the for the governor of Mesopotamia and the different duces {viz. "dux of
Callinicum’ instead of "dux of Osrhoene’). Cf. above, § 57, 80, etc.

495

re^ci^re’, aywyos.

Location unknown.

Cf above, § 30.

In coin 1,440 solidi. Ecclesiastical personnel often had the competence to supervise
the construction of churches. The skills involved, such as drawing ground plans, laying
foundations, stonecutting and carpentry, had secular applications like the repair of
fortifications. Examples are found in Trombley, ‘War and society in rural Syria’, 162-
164 and n. 32; 188. Cf below, § 89. These tasks were finally regularised by an imperial
decree of 530. It required bishops, in association with ‘men of good repute’ and city
councillors to inspect all public works and review the public accounts connected with
them. Among the tasks to be overseen were the construction of harbours, walls and
towers, the repair of bridges and public aqueducts, paving roads, purchasing grain, and
heating the bath-houses. Cod. lust. 1.4.26. For commentary, see P. R. Coleman-Norton,
Roman State and Christian Church: a Collection of Legal Documents to A.D. 535, III
(London, 1966), 1058-1063. Ps.-Joshua gives a realistic picture of what could go wrong
in a period of administrative chaos fed by famine, war, and easy opportunities for
corruption. He reflects the view, later institutionalised by Justinian, that only the bishops
could be counted on to serve the interest of ordinary agriculturalists and urban artisans.
We owe this suggestion to John Nesbitt.

TRANSLATION

107

Urbicius the eunuch (gave him) ten pounds to build a martyrion to the
blessed Mary."^^^ However, the governor took away the (supply of) oil
being given to the martyria and monasteries from the oil-store, which
came to six thousand and eight hundred xestai, and gave orders that it
should be used for illumination in the city’s colonnades.The vergers
vigorously petitioned him about this, but he could not be persuaded.
He did, however, give two hundred xestai from his own account to
every martyrion^ lest it be thought that he cared nothing for temples
built for God. Up to this year, four modii of wheat were being sold for
a denarius, as were six of barley and two measures of wine, but after
the new harvest, six modii of wheat were sold for a denarius, or ten of
barley.

The church was possibly located a short distance northeast of the law courts and
basilica. See Map IV. On Urbicius, cf above, § 84 n. 476.

This measure was probably the consequence of an oil shortage. The xestes, the Greek
form of the Latin sextarius, had the volume of approximately 0.5 litres. The amount
confiscated was thus some 3,400 litres. It is impossible, however, to estimate its market
value. Figures are lacking for 6th c. olive oil prices except in Egypt, where they were
quite high, about 40-48 xestai to the solidus; the price was much lower in provinces
where olive culture flourished. Jones, LRE, 446f The olive was grown extensively in
parts of Syria I and II, where oil presses survive, but little is known about this in
Osrhoene. IGLS, nos. 376 (Kefr Nabo, Syria I, 224 A.D.), 1509 (Hass, Syria II, 372
A.D). Cf P.-L. Gatier, ‘Villages du Proche-Orient protobyzantin (4eme-7eme s.). Etude
regionale’. The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East II: Land Use and Settlement
Patterns, edd. Averil Cameron and G. R. D. King (Princeton, 1994), 20-22. In the
papyri, olive oil was known as ‘good oil’, and was only one of the great variety
comestible oils in the Mediterranean diet. Bagnall, Egypt in Late Antiquity, 29-31.

The latter figure is still very high, Cf Jones, LRE, 445-446, who considers 10 modii
to the solidus (= denarius [aureus] in Syriac) not far above famine rate. It is not known
how long it took for grain prices to fall once again in Osrhoene to the pre-famine and
pre-war rates of June 495. Cf above, § 26. There is an indirect indication at Khirbet
Hassan near the Late Roman village of Dehes in the Limestone Massif (Syria I), a
district hardly affected by the war except for the grain expropriations made in the winter
of 504/5. Cf above, § 87. An inscription mentions the completion of a church in 507/8
and the distribution of large quantities of foodstuffs: ‘In the year 556 in the era of
Antioch, this church was completed. And there were issued for it 580 solidi (r^a^i.t),

and 430 modii of beans, wheat and lentils [worth] more than 500 [solidiy Pognon,
Inscriptions semitique de la Syrie, de la Mesopotamie et de la region de Mossoul, no.
82. It is impossible to calculate the exact price of wheat without knowing the relative
proportion of different foodstuffs, but the act of distribution suggests a relative
abundance.

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THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

88 The Persian Tayyaye did not desist or stop fighting, but crossed over
into Roman territory without the Persians, and took two villages into
captivity. When the Persian marzban in Nisibis learned of this, he
apprehended their chiefs and killed them. The Roman Tayyaye also
made an unauthorised crossing into Persian territory, and took a hamlet
into captivity. When this was made known to the magistros, as he had
gone down at the end of this [309] year to Apameia, he sent word to
Timostratus, dux of Callinicum, (to deal with it). He apprehended five
of their chiefs, killing two by the sword and hanging up three on
gibbets. Pharazman left Apameia after the magistros had gone down
there, came to stay in Edessa, and received the appointment from the

89 emperor of army commander in place of Hypatius. The wall of the
kastron of Batnan in Serug, all of which had fallen into ruin, was also
rebuilt and restored by the efforts of governor Eulogius of Edessa,^^"^

^09

This incident should not be connected with the raid conducted by the Lakhmid king
al-Mundhir III (505-554) against Palaestina I mentioned in Cyril of Scythopolis’ Life of
John the Hesychast 13-14 in Kyrillos von Skythopolis, ed. E. Schwartz (Leipzig, 1939),
21 If. and notes. First, ps.-Joshua suggests that the attack of 505 was led by shaykhs and
not the king. Secondly, Cyril of Scythopolis dates al-Mundhir’s raid to the second
indiction (1 September 508 to 31 August 509), after the fall of Amid (10-13 January
503), and to the fifty-sixth year of John’s life (8 January 509 to 7 January 510). The
consensus of these dates puts the al-Mundhir Ill’s raid between the termini 8 January
509 and 31 August 509. On this, see I. Shahid’s thought-provoking discussion,
Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century I 26-28. The raid of 509 was a breach of
the seven-year truce agreed in the treaty that ended the Persian War of 502-506. Cf.
below, § 98.

Martindale regards the name ‘Hypatius’ as a mistake for ‘Areobindus’. PLRE II, 144,
578, 873. If so, Pharazman became magister militum per Orientem. This is possible for
chronological reasons, as Areobindus disappears from ps.-Joshua’s narrative after
delivering his troops to winter quarters at Antioch in late 504, and he went on to become
consul in 505. However, this seems an unnecessary construction, and ps.-Joshua is
consistently accurate in assigning titles to the military officers, even where he fails to
define their precise working relationship. Celer did not ‘replace’ Hypatius as commander
of one of the praesental armies, but remained magister ofjficiorum throughout the war as
a kind of supreme commander (cf above, n. 392). There is great merit in taking ps.-
Joshua at face value, making Pharazman magister militum of the ‘second’ praesental
army, whose command had remained vacant since the recall of Hypatius around
December 503 (possibly because of heavy losses sustained at the battle of Opadna), and
with which Pharazman had been cooperating at Amid since 503. Cf above, §§ 56, 66
and nn. 402,456.

^^Batnan-Serug had surrendered to the Persians at the end of September 503 because its
walls were broken down. Cf above, § 63. Nothing is said about the fate of its civil

TRANSLATION

109

while the virtuous priest Aedesius encrusted with brass the doors of the
men’s aisle^^^ in the (City) Church of Edessa.^^^

The year 817 ( = 505/6 A.D.)

The officers of the Roman army told the emperor that much harm
was being done to the troops from the fact that they had no city situated

507

on the border. Thus whenever Roman soldiers went out from Telia
or Amid to go through the ‘Arab on forays, they were afraid of
enemy plots everywhere they stayed. If they happened to meet a force
larger than they were and decided to turn back, they had to suffer great
fatigue, because there was no city close to them in which they could
take refuge.For this reason, the emperor gave the order that a wall
should be built at the village of Dara, which lies on the border.^
Stone-masons were picked out from the whole of Syria and went down
there.^^^ While they were building it, Persians would come out from

population. Much of it may have escaped across the Euphrates ahead of the Persian
advance, although Jacob of Serug had apparently urged people of the cities not to
migrate (cf. above, § 54). Cf. Czpizzi, L’imperatore Anastasia, 224.

Viz. the Great Church. Cf. above, § 31. Aedesius was a presbyter (roujuj).

The officers in question were undoubtedly Areobindus, who returned to
Constantinople to assume the consulship in late 504, and Celer, who was reporting
regularly to the emperor (viz. the conditions the Persians were offering for peace). Cf.
above, § 81. Cf. ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.6 (Hamilton-Brooks, 164f.).

Cf. § 38.

The need for a forward base was suggested by Areobindus’ forced withdrawal from
the ‘Ammudin-Dara position in 503. The retreat did not stop until it reached Tella-
Constantina, a distance of some 135 km. Above, § 54, 57. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann,
Haute Mesopotamie, Figs. XVII and XVIII. Such a base would also enable the army to
cover the eastern approaches of the ‘Arab against the Lakhmids. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.6
(Hamilton-Brooks, 164f.).

The generals disagreed as to where the fortress should be sited. Some wanted Dara,
but others preferred ‘Ammudin. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.6 (Hamilton-Brooks, 165). For
architecture and historical background, see Michael Whitby’s study, which replaces the
earlier scholarship on the subject; ‘Procopius’ description of Dara (Buildings II. 1-3)’,
The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, edd. P. Freeman and D. Kennedy, BAR
International Series 297 (II) (Oxford, 1986), 737-783, esp. 75If. An important funerary
relief at the entrance to a cave may also date from this time. M. C. Mundell, ‘A sixth
century funerary relief at Dara in Mesopotamia’, Jahrbuch der Osterreichischen
Byzantinistik 24 (1975), 209-227.

Ps.-Joshua does not mention the dominant role played by Thomas, archbishop of
Amid, in the construction of Dara. Among the tasks he performed were: the dispatch of
engineers (ppxci^lkol) to the site to draw plans of its fortifications, discussion of the

110

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

Nisibis and stop [310] them (working). Pharazman therefore left
Edessa and went down to stay in Amid, and would go out to the
builders and support them. He would also make great hunting
(expeditions) for animals, especially wild boar, of which there were
many there after the region had been devastated.^He would catch
more than forty of them in a single day, and send some of them, alive
or dead, to Edessa as a demonstration of his hunting prowess.

The virtuous Sergius, bishop of the kastron of Birta, which is
situated near us by the river Euphrates, also began to build a wall for
his city, and the emperor gave him a considerable sum of money
towards its costs.^^"^ The magistros also ordered that a wall should be

plan with Anastasius in Constantinople, personal supervision of and visits to the works,
and the delegation of specific tasks to two presbyters and three deacons of his see, who
supervised the work on a daily basis. The artisans Thomas hired seem to have received
high wages to complete the work quickly. Dara was itself an estate of the see of Amid,
and Thomas received full reimbursement for the imperial purchase of the place. The
coloni were made freeholders and received lands of their own from these imperial
monies. Ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.6 (Hamilton-Brooks, 164f.). Ps.-Joshua may have disliked
Thomas because of his having displaced the ‘virtuous’ Nonnus. Cf above, § 83, n. 472.
Building costs are known mainly from inscriptions on 4th c. funerary monuments in the
province of Arabia. Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 175f. But see SEG 7, no. 1184 (Mothana,
Arabia, 485/6 A.D.), where the cost of constructing a ‘secure tower’, including the hiring
of a builder and (apparently) the price of materials, is given as 60 solidi. In the
territorium of Myra, the provincial capital of Lycia (Asia Minor), the cost of rebuilding
the rural chapel of St. Daniel was put at 80 1/2 solidi (mid-6th c.). Trombley, ‘Monastic
foundations in sixth-century Anatolia’, 58.

Ps.-Zachariah fails to mention Pharazman, naming Felicissimus dux of Mesopotamia
as the officer present instead. The troops of Oriens and Mesopotamia were certainly in
the vicinity covering Dara against any Persian attempt to destroy the new works. Ps.-
Joshua might have been tempted to omit the dia^s name if the latter had been in the
local faction that got Thomas of Amid elected bishop. Above, § 90 n. 511. ‘Felicissimus
2’, PLRE 11 458. Ps.-Zachariah mentions the latter’s kindness to the agriculturalists and
the poor. This suggests that the usual requisitions of unpaid labour and haulage
(ayyapetat) were kept to a bare minimum. The section of the Strategikon of Maurice,
‘How to build a fortress on the frontiers without [provoking] a general war’, probably
reflects the types of manoeuvres and tactics that were used to screen the building works
of Dara from Persian attack. Mauricius, Strategikon 10.4, in G. T. Dennis (ed.) and E.
Gamillscheg (tr.). Das Strategikon des Maurikios (Vienna, 1981), 347-351.

Wild boar may have been one species in the ‘plague of beasts’ that afflicted
Osrhoene in 504/5. Cf. above, § 85. Pigs are known to have fed on carrion in more
recent wars, e.g P. Caputo, A Rumor of War (New York, 1977), 4.

Bishop Sergius is otherwise unknown. Cf. above. Introduction xiii, n. 4. The fortress
was Birta-Makedonopolis in Osrhoene (present-day Biredjik), lying on the Euphrates c.
45 km. west of Serug. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamie^ 299, Fig. XI,

TRANSLATION

111

built for Europus, which lies west of the (same) river in the eparchia of
Mabbug, and the local people struggled with it as well as they could.^^^
After Pharazman went down to Amid, dux Romanus came in place of
him, and he settled in Edessa with his army and made substantial
donations to the poor.^^^ During this year, the emperor also added to all
his beneficent deeds and wrote off the synteleia for the whole of
Mesopotamia. All the village landowners were overjoyed and
praised the emperor, but the mass of the people were discontent and
complained, saying, ‘The Goths should not be billeted with us, but with
the village landowners, because it is they who have benefited by this

518

rebate.’ The hyparch ruled that their request should be accepted, but
when it began [311] to take effect, all the nobles of the city gathered
round dux Romanus and persuaded him, saying, ‘Let your grace
stipulate what each one of the Goths should receive per month, lest they
loot the houses of wealthy people when they go into them just as they
looted the populace.He accepted their argument and decreed that

XVII. C&pizzi, L’imperatore Anastasia, 224. This notice is especially significant in view
of ps.-Joshua’s failure to describe the role Thomas of Amid played in the fortification of
Dara. Above, § 90. On bishops’ supervision of work on fortifications, cf above, § 87 n.
498.

Europus (present-day Jerablus) lies on the west bank of the Euphrates midway
between Zeugma and Mabbug-Hierapolis, the provincial capital of Euphratesia. See
Map II. Cf Dillemann, Haute Mesopotamia, Fig. XXIII. The Greek eTrapxLa should be
taken simply in the sense of ‘civil province’, not territorium. Ps.-Joshua’s use of the
‘province of Mabbug’ to designate Euphratesia is peculiar, but consistent with his usual
designation of duces and civil governors by their headquarters and capitals.

Romanus had been and, to judge from his rank, still was, dux of Palaestina. An
experienced commander, he had conducted operations against the Ghassanids and other
Arabs as far south as the Red Sea c. 497/8 and 501/2. Cf above, § 57 n. 325 and below,
n. 519. He joined Areobindus’ command in Osrhoene in late 503, presumably with the
numeri of Palaestina, and played an important role in operations thereafter, perhaps as a
specialist in fighting the Arabs. Cf Theophanes, Chron. AM 5990, 5994, 5997 and 5998
(Mango-Scott, 217, 222, 225, 228). For a different view, see ‘Romanus 7’, PLRE II 948.
Romanus comes into ps.-Joshua’s narrative late, possibly because there was not much
glory in fighting Arab raiding parties.

Viz. the entire tax assessment, annona and capitatio.

The ‘mass of the people’ {viz. urban artisans, shopkeepers and day-labourers) wanted
the soldiers kept outside the fortifications and foisted on the villages in the territorium
of Edessa, many of which included private and church-owned estates, and villages
consisting of freeholders.

I.e. the curiales were anxious to protect their rural estates against illegal requisitions.
The archbishop had the same economic interests as the city councillors, but, to judge
from ps.-Joshua’s reports, usually took sides against them in favour of the rural and

112

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

(the soldiers) should get an espada of oil a month, as well as two
hundred pounds of wood and a bed and bedding to be shared between

. 520

two.

94 When the Goths heard this order, they rushed off to kill dux
Romanus in the house of the Barsa family, but as they were going up
the stairs of his lodging, he heard the noise of their uproar and
commotion and realised what they were intending to do. He quickly
put on his armour, and grabbing his weapons and drawing his sword, he
stood at the upper door <of the house> in which they were staying.
While they did not (actually) kill any of the Goths, they nevertheless
brandished their swords and (thus) stopped the first ones who came up

524

from getting in to them. Those further down were angrily pushing
those above them to move up and get in to them. The stairs of the

urban poor. If the supposition is cogent that Romanus was dux Palaestinae, it follows
that some of the formations listed in the Notitia Dignitotum for Palestine (e.g. the five
Illyriciani), or their successors, continued to draw Goths as recruits. Or. XXXIV. 18-22,
etc. (Seeck, 72-74). On Gothic officers recruited in Illyricum, see P. Amory, People and
Identity in Ostrogothic Italy 489-554 (Cambridge, 1996), 28If. Cf. the undated
inscription of Antioch (Syria I) mentioning a certain Wadila comes {viz. commander of a
numerus) whose name is Gothic. The superior officer mentioned (ctpxcov) was doubtless
the magister militum per Orientem. SEG 7, no. 64, from L. Borchardt, Archdologischer
Anzeiger 38/9 (1923-4), 153-155.; O. Viedebantt, ibid., 155-164. Cf Cassiodorus’ copy
of the letter of Theodoric to Adila comes (507-511 A.D.) at Variae 2.29.

520

An espada is a ‘wine-can’; cf Glossary, s.v. For the salgamum, ‘soldier’s wood and
salt’, see above, § 86 n. 488. The large quantities of wood were required for heating the
the troops’ houses during the winter of 505/6. Firewood was a scarce commodity
throughout Osrhoene and Mesopotamia. For example, Thannourios (present-day Tell
Touneynir) near the Khabur river had a thick, leafy forest, but was quite far off
Procopius, De Aedificiis 2.6.15 (Dewing VII 140f). See Map II. Cf Dilleman, Haute
Mesopotamie, 75-78. Fig. X. Cf Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 135, 205.

521

The Barsa family were certainly curiales. Little is known of Edessan families except
what is recorded in a group of 2nd-3rd c. mosaic inscriptions. H. J. W. Drijvers (ed.).
Old Syriac (Edessan) Inscriptions (Leiden, 1972), nos. 45-47 (2nd-3rd c.), and 48, 56,
57 (3rd c.), and 51 (277/8 A.D.); Segal, Edessa, Plates 1-3, 12a-b, 16b, 17a. Romanus
was quartered as the ‘guest’ {hospes) in the townhouse of this wealthy family. For the
legal and practical side of hospitium, see Isaac, Limits of Empire^ 297-304; Jones, LREy
249f., 63If and 1115,n.26.

522

Multi-storey houses are also known in the Limestone Massif (Syria I and II). Cf
Tate, Campagnes de la Syrie du Nord, 15-41, 85-171. Cf Heichelheim, ‘Syria’, 163f

Conjecture of Wright (ciia.! i^Ai-^.r-i). MS .1 cua.l.

524

The first hand of the MS. The sentence has been emended to a singular subject
throughout (i.e. Romanus) in an old correction, possibly from the first hand. The plural
presumably denotes ‘Romanus and his entourage’.

TRANSLATION

113

525

house were thus occupied by a great crowd, as your Holiness will
appreciate. With the first ones who had gone up being unable to get in
for fear of the sword, and those in the rear pushing against them, hordes
of people were on the stairs, with the result that they broke under the
weight and gave way on them.^^^ A few of them died, while many
suffered broken [312] limbs and were incurably maimed. With the
opportunity afforded him by this accident, Romanus fled along the
roof-tops from one house to another, and thus made his escape.
However, he said no more to them (about their rations), and they
therefore stayed where they were billeted, acting according to their own
desires. No one could control, restrain, or instruct them.^^^

All this year, our bishop Mar Peter was very grievously ill. During
April, the pressure was again particularly severe on our city, for the
magistros assembled the whole army and set off to go down to Persian
territory, in order to establish and renew a peace treaty with them.
When he came into Edessa, Persian envoys came to him and told him
that the astabid who had come to meet him to conclude the treaty with
him had died.^^^ They urged him that if he had come down for the sake
of peace, he should not proceed beyond Edessa until another astabid
was sent by the Persian king.^^* He accepted their request and stayed
five months in Edessa. Because the city (itself) could not accommodate
the Goths who were with him, they were also lodged in the villages and

I.e. the addressee Sergius.

Late Roman sources are agreed that Gothic soldiers were often clumsy and stupid
fighters.

It was possible to leap from roof to roof in the inner parts of Near Eastern cities. A
somewhat similar escapade is reported a century earlier {post 406) at Gaza. Mark the
Deacon, Vie de Porphyre, eveque de Gaza, ed./tr. H. Gregoire and M.-A. Kugener (Paris,
1930), §96.

A negative reflection on the quasi-democratic nature of the Late Roman army.

The ‘whole army’ consisted of elements of the two praesental armies, that of Oriens,
and the different provincial contingents that had gone into winter quarters in 504/5.
They converged on Edessa from the west, north and south, taking the roads leading
across the Euphrates from Antioch, Melitene, Apameia, Damascus and Mabbug. It
numbered in the tens of thousands. Cf. above, § 87.

This proves that the Persian was no ordinary spahbad, but the Eran-spahbad, the
Sasanid general-in-chief. Cf. above, § 80 n. 456.

I.e. the Persians would take it as a termination of the truce if the Roman army moved
further eastward. Its billets presumably lay no further west than Tektek Dagh, the
western limit of the Edessa’s territorium. See Map II. Cf. Dillemann, Haute
Mesopotamie, Fig. XVII.

114

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

all the monasteries around the city, large and small. Similarly, not even
the solitaries were permitted to dwell in the silence they love,
because (the Goths) were even billeted upon them in their dwellings.^^^
So excessive were (the Goths) in their eating and drinking, since of
course their consumption from the first day of their arrival was not at
their own expense, that some of them, enjoying themselves in the upper
storeys of houses, went out [313] at night, befuddled with too much
wine, and striding out into empty space, fell into the abyss and brought
their life to an unfortunate end. Others dozed off while sitting and
drinking, fell from upper storeys, and died on the spot. Yet others
suffered in their beds from excessive eating. Some would put boiling
water into the ears of those serving them for the slightest mistake.
Others who had gone into a garden to take the produce handed out
death by an arrow to the gardener when he rose to prevent them
stealing; his blood was not avenged. Yet others, overcome by their
own rage, killed one another as their evil grew and no one restrained it;
for those on whom they were billeted acted with great understanding
with them and did everything according to their wishes, because they
did not (want to) give them any excuse to harm them. You will not
be unaware that there were also others among them who lived in an
orderly fashion, for in a large army like that there are certain to be some
such people. So devastating, however, was the evil of the bad ones,
that the headstrong among the Edessenes ventured to do something
which was unwarranted. They put down a complaint against the

535

magistros on paper sheets and secretly posted them up at certain

532

Literally: ‘those who dwelt in solitude’.

Viz. small huts and dwellings of every kind, including caves.

Here, as elsewhere, ps.-Joshua is our single most detailed source on civilians being
bullied by the soldiery. Cf. above, § 86, 92-95. The only ‘good’ Goth was the tribounos
Aid, who fought heroicially in one of the attempts in 504 to retake Amid, and was
perhaps one of ps.-Joshua’s informants. Above, § 71. The complaint about the ‘Goths’
reflects ps.-Joshua’s prejudice against the soldiery in general. It is here a denunciatory
term for all the nationalities in the prefectures of Illyricum and Thrace who were being
recruited into the comitatenses. Cf. Theophanes’ ‘Goths, Bessi and other Thracian
races’. Chron. AM 5997 (Mango-Scott, 225). The evidence for recruitment there is
mostly Justinianic; the reign of Anastasius is illustrated by papyri that concern Goths
serving in Aegyptus. Jones, LRE, 668-670. Cf. Michael Whitby, ‘Recruitment in Roman
armies from Justinian to Heraclius {ca. 565-615), in Cameron, States, Resources, 61-
124, esp. 68-75.

535 .

XCtpTTl?.

TRANSLATION

115

places in the city. When he heard about it, he was not angry, as he
could have been. Because of his kindness, he neither sought out who
had done this, nor considered doing anything harmful to the city.
Instead, he made a big effort to get out of Edessa quickly and
speedily.^^^

The year 818 ( = 506/7

[314] The magistros then took his whole army and went down to the
border. At the city of Dara, a Persian envoy came to him with hostages
who had been sent by the astabid.^^^ They persuaded him that if he
wanted to make peace, he also should send hostages to match those he
had received.^^^ Afterwards, both sides would come together in
friendship, meet face to face with five hundred unarmed cavalry each,
and then sit down to negotiations^"^^ and do what was needed. He
accepted their argument, sent hostages, and went unarmed to meet the
astabid on the day that had been agreed. However, because he feared
that some plot might be hatched against him by the Persians, he
positioned the whole Roman army opposite them, with their arms, and
gave them a signal, ordering that if they saw the signal, they should
come to him quickly. When the astabid arrived to meet him and the
Roman soldiers and all the officers with them had sat down to
negotiations, one of the Roman soldiers looked carefully and saw that
all those who had come with the astabid were wearing armour
underneath. He revealed this to Pharazman the commander and

Celer was fearful of riots and possibly an urban ‘guerilla war’ against the soldiery.
Residents of provincial cities had fewer opportunities to register public opinion than in
metropoleis like Antioch, Alexandria and, of course, Constantinople.

In margin: ‘During this year the holy Mar Shila died in the village of [...].’

Cf. above, § 95 n. 456.

The magister officiorum usually negotiated treaties with Persia, as Helion did in 422
and Peter the Patrician in 562. This was because the public post and staff of interpreters
was directly under the magister’s control. Blockley, East Roman Foreign Policy^ 155-
158. The treaty of 506 was drafted by Armonius the a secretis (‘secretary of the imperial
consistory’). Marcellinus Comes, Chronicle 34, 112. ‘Armonius’, PLRE II 150. Cf.
Jones, LRE, 574, 605. Menander Protector describes the protocol of drawing up and
confirming documents in exceptional detail. Frag. 11, HGM II 10-32. R. C. Blockley
(ed./tr.). The History of Menander the Guardsman (Liverpool, 1985), Frag. 6.1-2, pp.
54-91. Bury, LRE II 120-123. Isaac, Limits of Empire, 260-264. Blockley, East Roman
Foreign Policy, 151-158,160.

Cf. § 80, note on riimlareSa.

116

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

Timostratus the and they gave the signal to the troops.

Immediately they gave a shout and came to them, taking prisoner the
astabid and those with him in (their) midst. When the troops in the
Persian camp learnt that the astabid and those with him had been
seized, they fled out of fear and went into Nisibis. The soldiers wanted
to keep hold of the astabid and kill those who were with him, [315] but
the magistros persuaded them not to create a reason for fighting nor to
<sabotage> the peace. (Only) with difficulty were they won over,
but they did listen to him and release the astabid and his companions
from their custody without harming them - for even in victory, Roman
officers are peacable. When the astabid went back to his camp and
realised that the Persians had gone to Nisibis, he was afraid to stay out
by himself and went in with them. He tried to force them to go out of
the city with him, but they were unwilling to go out of fear. So as not
to let their fear become obvious to the Romans, the astabid sent word
for his daughter to be brought to Nisibis, and in accordance with
Persian custom took her as a wife. When the magistros sent him word
with an oath, ‘No one will harm you, even if you come out alone’, he
responded, ‘Not out of fear am I not coming out, but in order that the
period of the wedding feast should be completed.’ Although the
magistros was well aware of the whole business, he turned a blind eye
to it as if he did not know.

98 Some days later, when the astabid (eventually) came out to him,
because of the desire for peace he set aside all the conditions which he
had decided to demand of the Persians. He drew up an agreement with
them and made peace. They composed the written terms between them
and established a definite time among them when they would not
instigate hostilities against each other. All the troops were glad and

99 rejoiced at the peace which had been made. While they were still on
the border, Celer the magistros and Calliopius received letters from the
emperor Anastasius which [316] were filled with concern and
compassion for the whole region of Mesopotamia. He wrote to them to
the effect that if they thought it appropriate that the synteleia should be

Cf. above, § 57.

Read with Wright ^cinjL..uo (MS.: ^omAjo).

543

Ps.-Joshua does not repeat the financial terms of the treaty, which were well known.
The Romans agreed to pay 500 pounds in gold per annum (36,000 solidi) in return for a
truce of seven years. Procopius, Wars 1.9.24 (Dewing I 76f). John Lydus, De
Magistratibus 3.53.

TRANSLATION

117

written off, they had the authority to remit it without delay. They
considered that the entire synteleia should be written off for the
territory of the Amidenes, and half of it for the territory of the
Edessenes.^"^"^ They sent word for this to be made known in Edessa, and
shortly afterwards they also sent other letters announcing the peace that
had been made.

On the twenty-eighth of November, they brought the whole army up
from the border, but when the magistros arrived at Edessa, he thought
that he would not enter it because of the (Edessenes’) complaint against
him.^"^^ The blessed Bar-Hadad, bishop of Telia, persuaded him not to
be swayed by anger (at that incident), nor to leave behind him any ill-
feeling or resentment. He readily accepted his argument, and indeed all
the Edessenes, from the greatest to the least, came out to receive him
with great joy, carrying wax candles. All the clergy, the children of the
covenant,^"^^ and the monks also came out with them and he entered the
city with great gladness. He sent on the whole army the same day to
continue on its way, but he himself stayed three days and gave the
governor two hundred denarii for distribution as presents. Rejoicing
in the peace that had been made, happy at the coming release from the
distress in which they were presently living, exulting in the hope of
blessings expected in the future, and praising God, who in his grace and

Ps.-Joshua reports tax remissions {viz. waiver of the synteleia) for ‘all’ or the ‘whole
region of Mesopotamia’ for three indictions, 503/4, 504/5 and 505/6. Each was a
separate act, made on the basis of the agricultural production of the province. In the
present instance and all others, ‘the whole region of Mesopotamia’ includes the
provinces in the zone of operations, viz. Osrhoene and Mesopotamia, which are here
described as the ‘territories’ of Edessa and Amid. Cf. above, § 66, 78, 92. Osrhoene had
recovered sufficiently well since 506 to qualify for the remission of only half its tax.
Amid is said to have received a seven-year exemption from all annual taxes {viz. annona
and capitatio) at ps.-Zachariah, HE 7.5 (Hamilton-Brooks, 163) and Procopius, Wars
1.7.35. Ps.-Joshua uses the phrase ‘territory of Amid’ to designate the Roman province
of Mesopotamia, and this suggests that the tax assessment of the province was often
spoken of as though it were that of the provincial capital. If, as seems likely, Procopius
has done the same thing, it is probable that Anastasius granted the province of
Mesopotamia three more tax remissions, each a separate act, in 507/8, 508/9 and 510/11,
rather than a single long-term waiver for seven years by a single act, as ps.-Zachariah
and Procopius have it.

Cf. above, § 96.

Cf. above, § 36.

I.e. 200 gold solidi.

118

THE CHRONICLE OF PSEUDO-JOSHUA

mercy had brought peace^"*^ to both empires, the citizens sent him on
his way with songs fitting for him and for (the emperor) who had sent

, . 549

him.

Even if this emperor seemed (to act) differently at the end of his life,
let no one make difficulty over his praises, [317] but let him remember
what was done by Solomon in the closing period of his life.^^°

These few things out of many I have written for Your Grace to the
best of my ability, both unwillingly and willingly. I have been
unwilling because I might weary the wise sage who is more expert in
these matters than I, but I have been willing for the sake of obeying
your command. So now I may urge you to fulfil the promise in your
letter to intercede constantly with God for my sinful self. I shall
therefore take care, since I know your wish, and write down and send to
Your Eminence whatever happens in the future and is worthy of
memorial, if I remain alive. Let us pray - we who are here. Your
Eminence there, and all men everywhere - that the content of the
narrative will be about a great change which will have happened in the
world. Just as we were unable to narrate the (events) of the evil times
(past) as they (truly) were, because of the magnitude of their troubles,
so also may we be unable to narrate those of the future, because of the
magnitude of their blessings. May our speech be inadequate to tell of
the good conduct of our citizens, of the peace and prosperity that shall
reign in the world, of the great abundance that shall come to pass, and
of the overflowing increase of the harvest of the blessing of God, who

MS.: ‘his peace’.

549

The description given by ps.-Joshua has much in common with imperial adventus
ceremonial, but has missed the attention of commentators. On imperial adventus^ see S.
MacCormack, Art and Ceremonial in Late Antiquity (Berkeley-Los Angeles, 1981), 17-
89, Plates 8-25. On Anastasius’ accession, see ibid. 68-70. The distribution of largesse
was an important feature of adventus. Ibid. 37, Plates 14-15.

We share the widely held opinion that this sentence is an insertion. Cf the
Introduction, pp. xxviii-xxix.

TRANSLATION

119

said, ‘The former troubles will be forgotten and be hidden from my
sight.’^^‘

To him be glory for ever and ever, Amen.

Isaiah 65 : 16. On the rhetorical flourish with which ps.-Joshua concludes this
epilogue - following his remark that ‘the citizens sent (the magistros) on his way with
songs fitting for him and for (the emperor) who had sent him’ - cf. the advice of
Menander Rhetor for the epilogue of an imperial oration: ‘You will speak of the
prosperity and good fortune of the cities: the markets are full of goods, the cities of
feasts and festivals, the earth is tilled in peace, the sea sailed without danger, piety
towards God is increased, honours are given to all in due fashion’ (Menander Rhetor
377.10-15, [ed. and] translated by D. A. Russell and N. G. Wilson, Menander Rhetor
[Oxford, 1981], p. 93). On the epilogue, cf. also the Introduction, pp. xx-xxi.

APPENDIX

The Fortifications of Amid

Amid (in Greek, Amida) was the provincial capital of Mesopotamia.
The present-day site, Diyarbakr, was for a long time known by its
Turkish name Kara Amid (‘Amid the Black’) because of the basaltic
stone used in the construction of its walls and public buildings. Its
fortifications conform to the shape of the escarpment on which it stands
above the Tigris. The site measures c. 1.5 km. by 0.95 km. between the
gates at its cardinal points. The walls are of two periods: the older. Late
Roman sections, mainly on the eastern and southern sides of the site,
have distinctive square towers. They probably date from the rebuilding
of the city c. 367-375, after its fall to Shapur II in 359. CIL III 6730.
The round towers belong to the Islamic period. The earliest of the latter
are dated by inscriptions to 909-910 A.D. M. van Berchem and J.
Strzygowski, Amida (Heidelberg, 1910), 6-8, 13-122, 277-285 (inscr.
nos. 1-7); and see in general the more recent study of A. Gabriel,
Voyages archeologiques (cf § 50, n. 254) . Late Roman towers are
visible in Figs. 219 and 227. The existing gates lie at the ‘cardinal
points’ (viz. east-west and north-south), whence the relative positions of
the Late Roman cardo and decumanus can be inferred. Ibid., 27. On the
North Gate, see § 53, n. 298. See also C. Preusser,

Nordmesopotamische Baudenkmdler altchristlicher und islamischer
Zeit (Leipzig, 1911), Plate 67, and, more recently, D. van Berchem,
‘Recherches sur la chronologie des enceintes de Syrie et de
Mesopotamie’, Syria 31 (1954), 262-267 and Fig. 2, with map scaled in
metres. Cf D. Sellwood, ‘Amida’, Ell 938f

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GLOSSARY OF SELECTED TERMS

The following Glossary is mainly devoted to military matters and personnel
(Roman and Persian), Roman administration, local administration and society,
and money, weights, and measures. It also includes notable terms relating to
public buildings, religion, and literary genres. The bare numbers refer to
sections (following the section numeration of Wright); those prefixed by
‘introd.’ to pages of the introduction, those prefixed by n(n). to note(s) to the
translation, and those prefixed by ‘introd. n.’ to notes to the introduction.

Abbot 1.

Amphitheatre KuvTiyiov] 76.

‘Arab 38, 50, 90; introd. xli; nn. 180, 181, 257, 269, 330, 486,
509, Map II.

Astabid Pers. spahbad, ‘master of the soldiery’] 59,

80(multiple), 81(x2), 95(x2), 97(multiple), 98; im. 297, 324,
361,456, 486, 530.

Ballistae paXXtaTTig, ballista (‘catapult’)] 75; introd. xlviii,

nn. 295, 360, 436.

Basilikai [K^nAma, PaoiXcKTi (‘portico’)] 30, 43.

Bath [xnlia, PaXavetov] 19, 43, 75. - Bathhouse Aujb] 30;

introd. xlv, xlviii, nn. 77, 135, 498, Map IV. - Cf. Demosion
and Tepid bathing-room.

Boukellaton pouKeXXdroy, bucellatum, ‘soldiers’ bread’] 54,

70(x2),77; nn. 312, 313, 314,423.

138

GLOSSARY

Candles[r<Xl*.u^, KavSfjXaL] 27(x2), 30. - [r^jcuto, KTipicoveg] 31, 100,
nn. 120, 121.

Chora territorium, rural areas under the administration of

a city] 43, 46, 68, 77, 85; introd. xv.

Chorepiskopos [r^siaau-ar^iciA, x^J^P^'T^LaKOTTog] 83; nn. 194, 208, 300,

471,479.

Clergy (flD)aflu*dfl, KXfjpos, kXtipikol] 36, 83(x2), 100; nn. 173,

491; introd. xli, xix(x2).

Colonnades [r(fa\i»r^, arod] 27, 29, 31, 32, 40, 41(x2), 42, 87; nn.
131, 152.

Comes Kop-Ti^, comes] 58(x3), 61(x2), 80, 81; nn. 164, 244,

269, 326, 333, 346, 367, 379, 422, 425, 465, 519; introd.
xxxiv, xlv(x2); introd. n. 89.

Commander (army, Roman unless noted otherwise) [reLoj .ai]
48(Persian), 58, 65, 73, 80, 88. - [r<r\>M 97. -

54; nn. 275, 292, 307, 324(Persian), 346,

392, 425, 453, 503, 516, 519; introd. xxxviii, xlv(x2), 1.
Commoners [Kii.TD.i, probably to be taken in two senses: humiliores,

‘citizens below the status of honestiores' (the latter of whom
included soldiers, city councillors, and members of the
imperial aristocracy), and 8 fip. 09 , the urban populace] 28, 86.
Covenant (community/children of) [rc^nln {aA^\ .^In)] 36, 100; n.

173.

Dancer opxriaTTis] 27, 30,46(x2).

Demosion 8r|(i6aLov (‘public building’)] 29, 30(x2), 43, 75,

87. - Cf Bath.

Denarius (money unit)] 26, 28, 38, 39, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 63,

84, 87, 100; nn. 38, 115, 185, 195, 196, 208, 501.

Dinars (money unit) nn. 38, 81.

Drachma [i<ioi (money unit)] 10, 11, 84; n. 477.

Dux [xn^o.T, 8ou^, dux] 51(x2), 57, 64(x2), 69, 75, 80(x2), 88, 92, 93,

94, 97; introd. xxxviii, xlii, xliv-xlv; introd. n. 129; nn. 52,
58, 244, 257, 260, 266, 267, 268, 269, 309, 310, 325, 346,

GLOSSARY

139

379, 391, 395, 404, 425, 427, 433, 436, 438, 457, 461, 492,
494,512,515,516,519.

Eparchia [r^tacn, provincial 91; n. 515.

Espada (of oil) ‘wine-can’] 93,

Eunuch (imperial) [(p<ra.\.^.i) 84, 87.

Folles [cn\% ^6\\is,follis (coinage)] 39; nn. 193, 194, 195, 199, 205,
206, 208, 476, 477.

Free-born (/in)] 22(Persians), 43(Edessenes).

Governor (of Edessa, i.e. Osrhoene, unless noted otherwise) [rdios^a^cn,

fiyeiioiy, praeses] 29, 32, 42, 43(x2), 87(x2), 89, 100. -
[r^n] 39(x2), 40, 43, 80 (of Amid, i.e. Mesopotamia), 83 (of

Amid, i.e. Mesopotamia). - [rotn.iso] 48 (of Theodosiopolis,

i.e., comes Armeniae); introd xxv (of Mosul), xxxviii, xliii,
xlv.

Greek characters [r<r^cu 68.

Greek myths [r^ocu.T 46; introd xvii. - Cf. Pagan.

Hostage O^iripOS] 10, 61, 80, 97(x3). - [rdx.aj-’soWAia i

10, 23; nn. 215.

Hyparch [r^ijaacn, UTTapxos, praefectus; in ps.-Joshua used to

designate the praetorian prefect of Oriens] 9, 54, 70, 77, 93;
n. 311.

Kab [r<ao, ‘a com measure’] 39(x3), 41, 43; n. 144, 192.

Kastron [c<i\;mn, Kdarpov, castrum, ‘fortified town’, ‘fortress’,] 74,
(89), (91).

140

GLOSSARY

Landowners of villages [f<.icu 3 probably agricultural freeholders,
SeaTTOTat] 39, 92, 93.

Magistros [idy iotqos, praefectus (militum); inps.-Joshua

used to designate Celer, magister officiorum] (59), 64, 65, 67,
69, 73, 75, 79, 80, 81, 87, 88 , 91, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100; nn. 392,
551; introd. xxviii.

Market-space dvTL<t) 0 p 09 ] 27; n. 123.

Martyrion [r<ri«fur) p.apTupLov] 29, 31, 35(x3), 60, 87(x3); introd.

xl, nn. 146, 147, 167, 215, 296, 343, 357, 360, 373, 499.
Marzban [r^juattso, Persian ‘warden of the marches’ (military title)]

21, 51, 56, 59, 64, 66 , 75, 77, 88 ; nn. 92, 297, 316, 324, 393,
406, 466.

Measure (of wine) [r^AvV^A] 41, 45, 87.

Memorial [r^.tcnojL (historiography)] l(x2), 3, 4, 86 , 101. -
Commemorate [.tox^] 4.

Memra Syriac verse homily] 54; n. 303

Modius (com measure)] 26, 38, 39, 44, 45, 46, 54, 70, 77, 87;

introd. li, nn. 113, 114, 185, 198, 501
Myths [r<rAv:i^^] 30, 46; introd. xvii.

Nobles (of the Persians) [r<xaioi] 23, 24(x2).

_(of the city, i.e. Edessa) [f<La-»oi , decuriones, curiales, ‘city

councillors’] 43, 44, 61, 93; n. 244. - [i<aioH] 28, 86 ;
introd. xiv. Cf. Rulers.

Nummi (coinage)] 39, 41,43; nn. 193, 194, 205.

Obolus 6 P 0 X 69 (coinage)] 40; n. 205.

Officer (army, Roman unless noted otherwise) [r<^ta.i»)] 54, 56, 57,

58, 60, 60(Persian), 72, 79(x2), 80, 90, 97(x2); nn. 244, 307,
396(Persian), 456, 503, 507, 512, 519.

GLOSSARY

141

Pagan (festival/myths) [r<r^cLaAjj(.i) 30, 33. - Cf.

Greek myths; nn. 88 , 138, 140, 142, 175, 329, 339, 440;
introd. xvii(x5), xix, xx(x5), xxvii, xxxix(x3), xl(x2); introd.
nn. 35, 38, 100, 101, 105, 106.

[f<!^o.icuta, TrepLo 8 €UTTi 9 ] 54; nn. 300, 303.

Poll-tax [r^i capUatio] 11; nn. 46, 198, 401, 517, 544.

Pound [r<rt\y^, Xirpa, libra, the Roman ‘heavy’ pound (unit of

weight)] 31, 42, 43(x2), 52, 53, 59(x2), 61(x2), 87(x2), 93.
Praitorion TrpaLTOjptov, administrative office of

the civil governor in the capital city of his province] 29, 87.

Rulers (of the city, i.e. Edessa) , decuriones, curiales, ‘city

councillors’] 46. - [cOl^i] 46, 86 . Cf Nobles.

<Sick-room> Read i<a>ia\f<r] 42(x2), 43.

Sogyatha [r^^vl\cu», a Syriac poetic form (‘songs’)] 54 n. 303
Solitaries ^A.r^] 95.

Staters [^*fAuwr^, Pahlavi ster, oraTTip (coinage)] 8 ; nn. 35, 189.

Statue [r<\,is 1 .U r<f, dv 8 pid 9 (-dvTa)] 27(x3).

Steward .ai] 42, 83; nn. 291, 469; introd. xxvi.

Store dTT60€Tov] 40, 81, 82. - Corn-store and Oil-store, see

under Edessa.

Stratelates aTpaTT]XdTr|g, magister militum, ‘master of

soldiers’] 9, 12, 14, 15, 56, 63; nn. 52, 266.

Synagogue Auja] 47. - Au.a] 58; nn. 239, 343.

Synteleia [f<A\^cu», auvTeXeta (tax)] 39, 66 , 78(x2), 92, 99(x2); nn.
197, 544.

<Tepid bathing-room?> [<r<r^iaxa> husa, tepidarium] 30.

Theatre [^o*t\yr<r^, Geaxpov] 27, 30; nn. 122; introd. xvi (x3), xxvii;
introd. n. 18.

142

GLOSSARY

‘Tortoise’ -.ro.i (xcXajvT]) ^oi^, testudo] 51. - [reX\J? 62;

nn. Ill, 273, 385, 386.

Tribounos TpiPoOvos, tribunus] 71; introd. xxxviii, im.

346, 367, 425, 534.

Trimesion. TpifiTiaiov, tremissis (coinage)] 84; n. 477.

Vergers 7 Tapap.ovdpL 09 ] 87.

Village landowners, see Landowners of villages.

Walkway TT€pLTTaT 09 (-v)] 29; nn. 262.

Xenodocheion [^o.nm^, £€vo8ox€lov, ‘strangers’ hospital’] 42(x2),
43(x3); introd. xli-xliii; n. 469.

Xenodochos [c<iA.uLxnA, 5^vo86xo9 (rarius), ‘superintendent of
xenodocheion'] 42; nn. 213,486.

Xestai [f<\,mD, ?€aTT)s, sextarius (volume measure)] 87(x2); nn. 208,

500.

INDEX OF BIBLICAL REFERENCES

Numbers refer to sections (following the section numeration of Wright).

Genesis

9:2.85

19.34

Exodus

8 : 15, 32, etc.21

Judges

2 : 15.38

15 : 9-16.62

I Samuel

17; 18: 1; 19-20.2

II Samuel

24 : 17.44

I Kings

21 : 17-29.46

24:20-25:7.10

II Chronicles

36: 11-17.10

Psalms

18: 15(16), cf.7(8).34

37:35-36 .11

51 : 15(17).68

119: 137.36

Proverbs

20 : 18; 24 : 6.6

Isaiah

10: 5; 6; cf.7-15.5

45 : 10.46

47 : 6.5

65 : 16.101

Jeremiah

52: 1-11.10

144

INDEX OF BIBLICAL REFERENCES

Joel

2:3.38

Amos

4 : 4 LXX ?.27

5 : 13.46

Matthew

II Thessalonians

2:2-3.49

I John

1 : 1 . 68

6: 13.85

13 : 28-29.3

17:21.47

24 : 6.49

Mark

9:29.47

13 : 7-8.49

Luke

21 : 9-11.49

Romans

12 : 15.5

13 : 10.1

I Corinthians
11 :32.4

II Corinthians

11 :6

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES IN TEXT

The bare numbers refer to sections (following the section numeration of
Wright); those prefixed by ‘introd.’ to pages of the introduction, those prefixed
by n(n). to note(s) to the translation, and those prefixed by ‘introd. n.’ to notes
to the introduction. This Index contains only persons and places mentioned in
the text of the chronicle.

Abame 34; n. 161, Map II.

Abgar 5, (36), (58), 60; introd. xiii, xviii, xlvii; nn. 22, 133, 172, 304,
338, 375.

Acre 47; n. 236. Cf. Ptolemais.

[Addai], stratelates, 9; introd. xliv; n. 40.

‘Adid 75.

Aedesius 89; n. 506.

‘Agar(‘Agad) 68; n. 412.

Agel (Agilene) 50; n. 257, Maps I, II.

Ahab 46.

Aid 71; introd. xxxviii; im. 425, 534.

Aleppo See Calliopius of Aleppo.

Alexander 29, 32; n. 130, 134, 152.

Alexandria 70; n. 536.

Amid (Ainida)/Amidenes Title, 50, (51), 53-58, 66, 69, 71, (72), (73),
74-76, (77), 79-83, (84), 90, 92, 99; introd. and im. passim;
Appendix, Maps I-III, V.

‘Ammudin 54; nn. 308, 317, 319, 322, 330, 346, 509, 510, Map I, II.

Anastasius (Emperor) 6, 19-20, (21), 23, 31, 34, (39-42), 46, 50, 54,
61, (66, 74, 77-78, 81, 83, 86-88, 90-92), 99, (100), <(101)>;
introd. xi, xiv, xx, xxvi-xxix, xxxi-xxxii, xxxiv-vi, xxxviii, xli,
xlvi, liii; introd. n 25, 75; im. 30, 63, 81, 83, 87, 90, 93, 100,
102,111, 144, 159, 195, 199, 206, 244, 253, 257, 283, 327,
343, 367,402,448, 449,459,475,485, 511, 534, 544, 549.

Anastasius, Governor of Edessa, 29; n.l30; introd. xvi, xvii.

146

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

Antioch 12-16, 19, 44, 83, 87; introd. xvi, xxvii, xxxi-xxxiii, xxxv,
xli; nn. 52, 59, 60, 138, 343, 349, 379,468, 492, 501-3, 519,
529, 536, Map 1.

Apameia 87-88; nn. 492, 529, Maps I, II.

Appion 54, 70; nn. 312, 422,423.

Arabs See Tayyaye.

‘Arab 38, 50, 90; introd. xli, nn. 180, 181, 257, 269, 330, 486,

509, Map II.

Arabia 75; nn. 221, 436,438, 492, 511, Map I.

Arcadius 9; n. 485.

Areobindus 54-55, 58-59, 61-63, 68, 75, 87; introd. xxxviii-li; nn. 18,
260, 308, 309, 312, 317, 319, 322, 325, 330, 346, 360, 367,
375, 380, 392, 402, 423, 427, 439, 440, 442, 443, 451, 456,
460, 492, 503, 507, 509,516.

Armenia, Armenians 20-21, 24, 48, 50, 57, 75; nn. 18, 25, 39, 86, 90,
91, 109, 167, 168, 182, 237, 244, 245, 246, 247, 257, 266,
268, 283, 333, 404, 440, 443, 444, 451, 492.

Arsamosata 35; introd. Iv; n. 167, Maps I, II.

Ashparin 57, 80; nn. 307, 320, 333,459, Map II.

Assyria, Assyrians 5, 38.

Aurelia 28.

Babylon, Babylonians 5, 38; nn. 393.

Balash 18-19; nn. 34, 73, 91, 104.

Bar-Hadad 58, 100; introd. xlix, 1; nn. 346, 352, 353.

Barsa 94; n. 521.

Basil 61, 80; n. 379.

Basiliscus 12; nn. 50, 54.

Batnan 63, 89; introd. xliii, xlvi-xlvii; nn. 25, 111, 303, 390, 486,
504, Maps I, II.

Bawi 59.

Beirut 47; n. 239.

Bekin 60.

Beth Ar(a)maye 64.

Birta 91; n. 514, Map II.

Blemmyes 20; n.88.

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

147

Caesarea (Cappadocia) 50; nn. 282, 291, 332, Map I.

Callinicum 57, 64, 69, 88; introd. li; nn. 208, 354, 394, 396, 420, 437,
471, 494, Maps I, II.

Calliopius of Aleppo 55, 70, 77, 87, (93), 99; nn. 317, 422, 423, 447.

Celer (Magistros) 64-65, (69, 75, 79-81, 87-88, 91, 95-98), 99, (100);
introd. xviii, xxviii, xxix, xxxiv, xxxvi, xxxviii, liii, liv; nn.
307, 392, 399, 402, 409, 420, 425, 428, 437, 438, 453, 455,
462, 466, 486, 503, 507, 536.

Chionites 9.

Constantina (Telia) 51; nn. 260, 265, 266, 271, 276, 322, 330, 343,
350, 353, 459, 509.

Constantine, statue of, see Edessa..

Constantine, Governor of Theodosiopolis 48, 55, 74; nn. 244, 245,
367, 433.

Constantinople (13), (39), 83, (87); introd. xvi, xxxv, liii; nn. 171,
199, 402, 423, 448, 460,476, 486, 507, 511, 536.

Cyrus, bishop of Edessa 28,32; n.l28.

Dahbana 61; n. 380, Map II.

Damascus 87; nn. 436, 492, 529, Map I.

Dara 54, 90, 97; introd. xxxvii, xlix; nn. 308, 319, 322, 330, 346,
377,472, 509, 510, 511, 512, 514, Maps I-III.

David 2, 34, 44; nn. 8.

Demosthenes, Governor of Edessa 32, (39-40), 42, (43); nn. 152, 212.

‘Eden 38.

Edessa, Edessenes Title, 5, 16, 26-47 passim, 52, 54-55, 58-60, (61),
62-63, 70, 74, 77, (78), 80-82, 84-85, (86), 87-90, 92, (93-94),
95-96, 99-100; introd. and nn. Passim, Maps I, II, IV.

Aqueducts 87.

Baths 29, 30, 43, 87.

Cemeteries 43.

148

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

Churches:

Apostles 43; n. 216, Map IV.

City Church (Great Church, Church of St. Thomas)
31,42,43, 63, 89; nn. 147,215, 506,
MapIV.

Confessors 60, 62; n. 373, Map IV.

Cosmas and Damian 60; introd. li, n. 215, Map IV.
John the Baptist and Addai the Apostle 29; n. 133,
Map IV.

Mary 87; n. 499, Map IV.

Negbath village church 62.

Sergius and Simon 31, 59, 60, 62; introd. li, nn. 146,
360, MapIV.

Qona 43; n. 217.

Corn-store [ reiaav.^ (oitlkov) 29.

Gardens 60.

Gates:

Great Gate 36, 43, 61; nn. 216, 360, 375, Map IV.
Gate of the Arches 27, 29; n. 122, Map IV
Gate of the Theatre 27; n. 122, Map IV.

Gate of Beth-Shemesh nn. 215, 373, Map IV.
Samosata (North) Gate nn. 360,373, 375, Map IV.
High Street/ Market-Place [ reiiljL ] 27.

Hospitals See Xenodocheion.

Market-space \jdq r^] 27.

Oil-store r^b^oa] 87.

Praetorium/Praitorion 29, 87.

Statue of Constantine 27.

Theatre 27, 30.

Walkway 29.

Xenodocheion 42, 43.

See also Bekin, Kubbe, Maudad, Negbath/Kephar Selem,
Serrin, Tell-Zema.

Elijah 46.

Eugenius 51-52; nn. 267, 404, 436.
Eulogius 87, 89; n. 494.

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

149

Euphrates 16, 34, 54, 57, 60, 63-65, 87, 91; im. 99, 167, 208, 221,
245, 316, 325, 329, 391, 393, 396, 397, 404, 410, 431, 437,
492, 504, 514, 515, 529, Maps I-III.

Europus 91; introd. xlix; n. 515, Map II.

Eusebius 40.

Eutychianus 28.

Flavian 83; nn. 142, 468.

Gainas 75; nn. 436, 438.

Galilean 72.

Gallab (Jullab) 58; n. 355, Map II.

Germans 20, n 87.

Goths 71, (86), 93-95, (96); introd. xxxviii; nn. 307, 343, 487, 519,
526, 534.

Greeks See Glossary, Greek characters and Greek myths.

Harran, Harranites 42, 51-52, 59, 71; introd. xxxvii-xxxix, xli, xlvi;
nn. 208, 276, 277, 279, 325, 355, 366, 390, 410, 425 Maps I,
II.

Hirta/Al-Hira 57-58; nn. 316, 329, 339, Maps I, III.

Honorius 9.

Hormizd 61.

Huns 9-10, (11), 18-19, 23-24, 48, 51, 55, 57, 59, 62; introd. xiv,
xliv, xlvi; nn. 39, 40, 41, 80, 81, 87, 243, 273, 316, 317, 333,
393.

Hypatius 54-56, 88; introd. xxxvi; nn. 307, 312, 317, 318, 319, 320,
322, 367, 392, 402,432,456, 503.

Ulus 12-18; introd. xiv, xxxi, xlv; nn. 52, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63,
64, 67, 76, 111,244.

Isaurians 23; nn. 49, 67, 100.

Israelites 38.

150

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

Jacob (of Serug) 54; im. 303, 304, 353, 470, 504.

Jerusalem 47, 49, 84; n. 476, Map I.

Jews 40, 47, 58; im. 136, 239, 343, 349. - Jews and Christians 68.
John, bishop of Amid 83; nn. 204, 249, 296, 469.

John, the Scythian 15, 17; n. 64.

Jonathan 2.

Jovian 7.

Julian 7; n. 36.

Justin 82; introd. xxviii, xlvii; nn. 179, 367, 465.

Kallath 66; nn. 257, 406, 407, 408,451,453, Maps I-III.

Kawad 10, (11), 19-21, (22), 23-24, 48, 50-51, 53-55, 58-66, 69, 73-
75, 80-82; introd. dinAxm. passim.

Kephar Selem 59; introd. li. Map IV.

Khabur 57; introd. xlii, xliii; nn. 208,420, 520, Maps I-III.

Kubbe 60; Map IV.

<Kushanaye>? n. 37.

Leon 81.

Leontius (rebel Emperor) 14-18; nn. 59, 60, 244.
Leontius {comes) 58; nn. 260, 346.

Lot 34.

Mabbug 30, 64, 78, 87, 91; introd. li; introd. n 53; nn. 142, 390, 397,
449, 492, 515, 529, Maps I, II.

Magi 19-21; nn 34,44, 263, 389.

Matronianus 16.

Maudad 87.

Medes, river of (cf Gallab) 58.

Mediterranean ‘Western Sea’] 38.

Melitene 51, 66, 87; nn. 383,402,404,440, 492, 529, Maps I, II.
Mesopotamia Title, 49, 50, 66, 78, 92, 99; Roman province of, introd.
xli, xliv, xlv, li-liii; introd. n 115; nn. 25, 33, 36, 116, 157,
161, 194, 249, 254, 260, 266, 269, 291, 310, 350, 353, 393,

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

151

401, 423, 448, 458, 459, 466, 476, 479, 486, 492, 494, 512,
520, 544, Maps I, II.

Mushleq 75; n. 443.

Negbath (cf. Kephar Selem) 59, 62.

Nicaea 74.

Nicomedia 47; introd. Iv; iin. 240, 332.

Nicopolis 34-35; introd. Iv; nn. 163, 165, 237, Map I.

Nisibis 7, 18, 20, 22, 24, 44, 54-55, 69, 75, 88, 90, 97; introd. xiv,
xxvi, xli, xlvii, 1; nn. 18, 32, 33, 34, 36, 76, 90, 181, 189, 297,
317, 322, 440, 441, Maps I-III.

Nonnosus 80; n.461.

Nonnus, bishop of Amid 83; nn. 470, 472, 511.

Nonnus, xenodochos at Edessa 42; introd. xliii; nn. 133, 215 .

Nu‘man 51-52, 57-59; introd. xlvi-xlvii; nn. 99, 108, 264, 276, 327,
333,341.

Olympius 51, 80; nn. 260, 266, 270, 346, 379, 433, 457, 461.

Opadna 57; introd. xxxvii; nn. 253, 307, 319, 330, 402, 404, 405,
457, 503, Map II.

Ortaye 38.

Pamprepius 15; n. 61.

Patriciolus 60; n. 367.

Patricius 54-57, 60, 66, 69, 71, 75, 87; introd. xxxvi; nn. 307, 312,
317, 318, 319, 320, 322, 324, 330, 332, 333, 354, 367, 369,
392, 402, 404, 406,407, 408, 438, 442, 456, 457, 460, 492.
Paul (apostle) 4, 49.

Peroz 9-12, 17-19, (24), 48; nn. 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48,
86, 443.

Persia, Persians passim.

Peter, bishop of Edessa 32, 36, 39,43, 78, 95; introd. xxvi, xxviii, liii;
nn. 148,448.

Peter, comes 57-58, 8; nn. 333, 346,457,459.

Pharaoh 21.

Pharazman 56, 87-88, 90, 92, 97; nn. 323, 402, 456, 492, 503, 512.

152

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

Philistines 2, 62.

Philoxenus See Xenaias.

Ptolemais 47; introd. Iv; n 236. Map 1. Cf. Acre.

Qadishaye 22, 24, 57; nn. 96, 109, 333.

Resh‘aina 38, 69, 81; nn. 325, 418,420, 437, Maps I-III.

Rifaya (?) 59; n. 425.

Romans [rC-^ooDi, Romans or (Roman) soldiers] passim,

Romanus 92-94; introd. xxxviii; nn. 325,427, 516, 519, 521, 524.
Rufinus, hyparch 9; n. 40.

Rufinus, envoy of Anastasius 50, 54; nn. 256, 257, 291.

Rufinus? 59; n. 365.

Samosata 57, 60; nn. 332, 354, 369,404, 405, Maps I, II.

Samson 62.

Saul 2; nn 8.

Sergius, bishop of Birta 91; introd. xlix; n.514.

Sergius, addressee of the work 1, (18), (24-25), (39-40), (45), (79),
(86), (94), (96), (101); introd. xii-xiii, xix, xxix, xli.

Serrin 60.

Serug 59, 60, 89; n 303, 390, 514.

Shila 97 (margin); n 537.

Shura 74; n 531.

Sidon, Sidonians 47; introd. Iv; n. 236.

Singara (Sinjar, mountain and city) 53, 55, 69; introd. xlii; nn. 33, 36,
96, 181, 297, 315, 317, 322,419, 420, Maps I-III.

Sodom 34.

Solomon 6, 101; nn 422.

Stratonikos 42; introd. xxvi, xxxviii.

Suph 50.

Syria 9, 19, 90; introd. lii; nn. 65, 134, 142, 221, 267, 306,

335, 391, 422, 449, 472, 492, 500, 501, 522, Map I.

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

153

Tamuraye 22, 24; nn. 96, 109.

Tayyaye 22, 24, 51, 55, 58, 59, 62, 63, 75, 79. - Persian

Tayyaye [rC^*faA.i 57, 60, (79), 88. - Roman Tayyaye

r<r> V\ ,] (Tha‘labites, q.v.) 57, 74, 79, 88.

Tayyaye/Arabs introd. xlii, xliv; nn. 98, 99, 109, 134, 198,
273, 316, 325, 326, 327, 435, 454, 455, 471, 516.

Telia (Constantina) 38, 51, 55, 58, 81, 90, (100); introd. xlv-xlvi,
xlix, 1, liii; nn. 180, 260, 265, 266, 269, 271, 276, 322, 330,
332, 342, 343, 345, 346, 350, 353, 354, 437, 459, 486, 509,
Maps I, II.

Tell-Beshmai 51; introd. xxxvii, xlvi; nn. 262, 269, 273, 276, 457,
Map II.

Tell-Zema 87.

Tewathel 42.

ThaTabites 57. Cf. Tayyaye, Roman.

Theodore 56, 87; n. 323.

Theodosius 9; n. 244.

Theodosiopolis 48, 52; nn. 25, 244, 245, 253, 257, 283, 367, 404,
444, Maps I, III.

Thessalanonians, epistle of Paul to 49.

Thomas 83; introd. xlix; nn. 470,472, 511, 512.

Tigris 53, 79; introd. xlvi, nn. 254, 257, 261, 297, 393, 404, 406, 408,
437, 440, 442, 450, 454, 456,475. Appendix, Maps I-III, V.
Timostratus 57, 64, 69, 88, 97; introd. xxxviii, xlii, nn. 325, 395, 396,
420, 425.

<Trimerius>? n. 120.

Tyre, Tyrians 47; nn 236, 237.

Urbicius 84, 87; nn. 55, 476.

Vitalianus 60; n. 367.

Xenaias (Philoxenus) 30; introd. xxvii-xxviii, xli; nn. 141, 142.

154

INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES

Zamashp 24; n. 104.

Zardushtakan read? plural] 20; n. 85.

Zedekiah 10.

Zeno 7, 10, 12-15, 17-20, 23; introd. xiv, xxvi, xlviii, nn. 34, 42, 54,
55,60, 67,71,76, 87, 100, 244.

Zeugma, Zeugmatites 67-68; introd. xli, nn. 390, 515, Maps I, II.

GENERAL INDEX

Roman numerals refer to pages of the introduction, Arabic to notes to the
translation. The General Index includes persons and places mentioned only in
the introduction and notes.

‘Abd al-‘Aziz, Jabal, 325, Map II
Abraam, bishop of Telia, 486
Abraam, xenodochos (Telia), 486
Abraham, archbishop of Edessa, 373
Abu Ja‘fur b. Alqama, Lakhmid king, 341
acropolis, xlii, 147, 283, 296, Maps IV, V
Addai, legendary apostle and Doctrina Addai, 22, 133
Addai, chorepiskopos, monastery of and Life of, 194, 208, 479
Adurbadagan (Azerbaijan, Albania), Sasanid province of, 80, 243, 406,
Map III
adventus, 549

Aegyptus, diocese of, 60, 88, 198,423, 534
Ahura Mazda, Zoroastrian God, 77, 86

Aisouma, Mt. (present-day Karaca Dagh), 265, 276, 332, 467, Map II
ala I Nova Diocletiana, 380
Alans, 80

Albania, Albanians, 39, 80, Map III. See Adurbadagan

Aleppo-Beroia (Syria I), 134, 422, Map I

Ambazuk, Huimic chieftain, 39

Amea, woman of Edessa, 374

Ammianus Marcellinus, xxxiii (note), 33, 37

Anasartha-Theodoropolis (Syria I), xlix. Map I

Anemurium (Isauria), xlv

angareia (ayya^ia), see forced labour

annona (land tax), 198, 401, 517, 544

annonae (military pay in kind), 244, 485, 489

annonae foederaticae, 327

Antoninus, protector^ xxxiii (note)

Anzitene, 182, 257

Apamea ad Euphratem (Osrhoene), 410, Map II
Aphrodite, xxxix, 339

156

GENERAL INDEX

Apios, deacon, 486
apocalyptic, 189, 236, 249, 253
aqueduct, xlviii, 292, 449, 498
Arabana (Osrhoene), xlii, Map II
Araxes river (Armin), 80, 243, 245, Maps I, III
Arbayistan, Sasanid province of, xxxiv, xlvii, 90, 99, 171, 179, 181,
184, 186, 187, 189, 191, 204, 437, Maps I-III
archers, archery, 262, 334, 385,429, 446
archives, xvi (note), xxxii-xxxiii
Ariadne, Roman empress, 55
Armenia I, Roman province of, 163, 237
Armenia II, Roman province of, 404,492, Map I
Armenia III, Roman province of, 257
Armenia IV, Roman province of, 182, 257
Armenia Interior, 25, 244, 245, 440, Maps I, III
armeniaka demosia, 244

Armin (Persarmenia), Sasanid province of, 93, 243, 406, 443, Maps I,
III

Armonius, a secretis, 539
army, Roman, 52, 528, 534

Arran, Sasanid province of, 243, 296, 316, 393, Map III
Arsanias river (Sophene), 167, 257, Maps I, II
Arzamon river (Mesopotamia), 331

Arzanene, Sasanid province of, 18, 399, 406, 437, 440, 451, 453, Maps
I-III

Asthianene (Armenia), 246, 443, Map I
astrology, 60, 61

Asuristan (Babylonia), Sasanid province of, 99, 393, Map III

Aurelius Dasius, governor of Osrhoene, xliii

aurora borealis, 236

‘Avdat (Palaestina III), 221

Aytallaha, archbishop of Edessa, 217

Ayin-name 275,331,334,355

Azarbaijan, see Adurbadagan

Aziz (?), Arab shaykh, 435

Baalbek (Phoenice Libanensis), 138, 253
Bab al-Abwab, see Caspian Gates

GENERAL INDEX

157

Bahrain IV, Sasanid king, 38
Bailaqan, 80, Map III

Balasagan, Sasanid province of, 243, Map III
Balikh river (Osrhoene), 276, 355, Map II
Balissos river, see Balikh river
Banu Kinda, Arab tribe, 327
Bar-‘Idta, Rabban, 157, 186, 189, 204
Bardha‘a, 80, Map III
barley, li, 113, 116, 194
Barzane (Arbayistan), 189
Batman-Su, see Kallath river
battering ram, 261, 272
Belabitene (Armenia), 246, Map I
Beth Ghurbaq (Arbayistan), 189
Bezabhde (Arbayistan), 181, 440, Maps I-III
billets, billeting, 267, 425, 431, 486, 491, 492, 520, 531, 533
bishops, civil and political functions of, xlviii-1, 296, 352, 448, 489,
498,519

Bismideon, see Tell Beshmai
Bithrapsa, battle of, 267
bitter vetches, 210
Bouz el-Khanzir (Syria I), xlix

bread and its production, 189, 201, 203, 204, 206, 208, 312, 313, 314,
352, 422, 423

bridge, xlvii-xlviii, 216, 332, 375, 408, 437, 475, 498
Brytae, see Maiuma
bubonic plague, 127, 221
Bulgars, 87, 275

Calliopas, charioteer, 343
camel, xxxiii (note), xli (note)
cannibalism, 207
Cappadocia, 208, 282, Map I

captives, xxxiii, xxxix, xlvi, 18, 245, 247, 278, 297, 299, 315, 379, 433,
440, 442

Carduchia, see Kardach

Caspian Gates, 39, 80, 81, 393, Map III

Cassandriotic Gate (Thessalonica), 375

158

GENERAL INDEX

Cassiodorus, 519

casualties, 290, 299, 323, 324, 331, 428, 444
caves, 67, 165, 374, 510, 533, Map IV
cemetery (necropolis), xlv, 217, 218, 374
Chalcedon (Bithynia), 253
Chalcis (Syria I), 65, Map I
Cherris-Papyrios (Isauria), 51, 54, 67, 70
Cherson, xlviii

Chorzane (Armenia), 246, Map I
Chronicle of Edessa, xvi (note), xxxiii, 110, 215
chrysargyron, xviii (note), xxxi, xxxvii, liii, 144, 145
church, xxxiii, xliii, xlv, li, lii, 133, 146, 147, 163, 215, 216, 217, 249,
296, 299, 360, 373, 469, 471, 475,476, 499, 501, 506, 511
Church of Mar Ze‘ura, 321
Church of St. Gregory (Neocaesarea), 163
Church of St. John of Urtaye (Amid), 296
Church of St. Sergius (Edessa), li. Map IV
Church of the Forty Martyrs (Amid), 296, 475, Map V
city councillors, xliii, 144, 249, 291, 297, 334, 422, 489, 498, 519, 521
Clazomenae (Asia), 194
clibanarius, 273, 309, 325, 384, 387
clothing, price of, 196
Codex lustinianus, xxxii, liii
Colchis, 358, Maps I, III
collatio lustralis, see chrysargyron
collegium, see guild
comes Armeniae, 244, 367
comet, xxxii, xxxiii, liv, 155, 176, 219
comitatenses, 486, 534

Constantine the Great, Roman emperor, liii, 136, 415

corvee, see forced labour

Cosmas, city councillor (Edessa or Dausara), xliii

Cosmia, wife of Cosmas the curialis, xliii

curiales, see city councillors

cursus publicus, 392, 486

Ctesiphon, Sasanid capital, 393, Maps I, III

Cyril of Scythopolis, hagiographer, 502

Cyrrhus (Euphratesia), xli (notes). Map I

GENERAL INDEX

159

Cyrus, dux of Mesopotamia, xlv, 269

Cyrus, governor of Mesopotamia (praeses Mesopotamiae), 291, 295,
299, 458, 459

Cyrus river (Arran), 80, Map III

Daisan river (Osrhoene), 121, 122, 146, 216, 360, 373, Maps II, IV

Daphne (Syria I), 138, 343

Darband (Caucasus), 39, 393 Map III

Dausara (Osrhoene), xliii, 208, Maps I, II

Dawsar, 325

Dayr Sim‘an (Syria I), 479
deacon, 486, 511
defensor of the city, 489
Dehes (Syria I), 501
Denkard, 77, 85
depopulation, 30, 310, 492, 493
desertion and deserters, 464,465, 482
Diocletian, Roman emperor, liv, 488
Diogenes, comes, xlviii

diplomacy, 34, 76, 82, 88, 90, 101, 291, 327, 443, 456, 457, 460, 466,
539, 543
dirham, 35, 45
Domitius, St., life of, xli-xlii
Drizipera (Europa in Thrace), 375
Dura Europus (Mesopotamia), 194
dux Armeniae, 244
dux of Arabia, 436

dux of Armenia I and II {dux utriusque Armeniae), 268, 436

dux of Armenia IV, 257

dux of Palaestina, 427, 492, 516

dux of Phoenice Libanensis, 309,436

dux utriusque Ponti {dux of Pontus Polemoniacus and Helenopontus),
244, 268

earthquakes, xv, xxxii, xxxiii, liv-lv, 163, 236

East Gate (Telia), 345

eclipse, xv, liv-lv, 126, 171

Egypt, 88, 116, 145, 194, 195, 196, 500

160

GENERAL INDEX

Elijah, presbyter and archimandrite, xlv
Emesa (Phoenice Libanensis), xlvii. Map I
Emmaus, see Nicopolis (Palaestina I)

Endielion, 243
engineer, military, 285
Ephesus (Asia), 22, 127
Ephrem, patriarch of Antioch, xxxiii
Ephrem Syrus, 1
equites III Dalmatae, 309
equites V, VI, IXDalmatae, 307
equites sagittarii indigenae, xlii-xliii
Eran-spahbad, 456, 530
Erzemm, see Theodosiopolis
Euchaita (Helenopontus), 22, Map I
Euphemia and the Goth, 373, 487

Euphratesia, Roman province of, xli, xlix, li, 267, 332, 335, 391, 449,
471,492,515, Map I.

Eustathius of Epiphaneia, historian, xxx-xxxi, 60, 111, 433
Evagrius of Epiphaneia, historian, xxx-xxxi, xxxvi, 60, 111, 144

fabrica, 282, 332, 392

famine, xi-xii, xvi, xvii, xx, xxvi, xxxii, xxxv, xxxviii xxxix, xli, xliii,
li. 111, 113, 185, 189, 194, 204, 207, 222, 249, 498, 501
Felicissimus, dux of Mesopotamia, 512
flood, 123

forced labour, 201, 314, 449, 512

fortifications, xxxvii, xlii-xlv, xlvii-li, 39, 51, 54, 61, 146, 147, 215,

216, 244, 245, 254, 257, 260, 261, 262, 111, 283, 292, 295, 298,
315, 321, 323, 334, 342, 343, 345, 356, 358, 360, 373, 375, 377,
389, 394, 404, 420, 428, 429,431,437, 446, 498, 511, 512,
Appendix, Maps IV, V

Gadono of Akhore, 324
Galerius, Caesar, 32
Galilee (Palaestina II), 427
Gaza (Palaestina I), lii, 527, Map I
Germaniceia (Cilicia II), 282, Map I
Ghassanids, 327, 516

GENERAL INDEX

161

Glon, spahbad, 297, 324, 466
Golcuk, lake (Sophene), 404, Map II
Gordian III, Roman emperor, lii

grain, xlviii, li, 194, 201, 204, 249, 423, 498, 501. See also wheat and
barley

Great Church (Amid), 296
griwbanar, 325
guild, 203, 314, 343

hand-slings (fundae), 384

Harithb. Tha‘laba, 327

Harith of the Banu Kinda, 327

Haura (territorium of Batnan-Serug), 303

Helion, magister officiorum, 539

hemp, 208

Hephthalites, 37, 38, 44, 45, 48, 74, 104, 243, 273, 292, 316, 317, 331
Herakleios, Roman emperor, 253

Hisham b. Muhammad ibn al-Kalbi, Muslim historian, 99, 108
hospes, 521

hospital {nosokomeion), 215,469
hospitium, 521
hot springs, 161

Houeidjit Halaoua (Osrhoene), xliii

House of the Archives (Dura Europus), 194

House of the Paupers and Lepers (Edessa), 215, Map IV

houses, 521, 522

Ibas-Hibha, archbishop of Edessa, 216

Ibn Habib, Arabic writer, 327

Illyrisis kleisoura, 257

incense, 140

indiction, xlviii, liii

infantry, 271, 272, 385

inscriptions, xxxii, xxxiii, xxxv, xxxvi, xxxviii, xl, xli-xlii, xliv-xlv,
xlvii, xlviii, li, lii, 22, 39, 194, 221, 300, 326, 374, 375, 384, 415,
416, 469, 471, 481, 486, 500, 501, 511, 519, 521, Appendix, Map IV
iron, 282, 322

Iron Bridge (Arbayistan), 437

162

GENERAL INDEX

Isaac of Antioch, 96
Isaura (Lycaonia), 49
Isauria, 51, 66, 67, 100
lyar (May) festival, see Maiuma
Izala, Mt., see Tur ‘Abdin

Jacob of Edessa, 293

James of Batnan, physician. 111

John, archbishop of Thessalonica, 1 (note)

John, lector and oikonomos of Theodoropolis, xlix

John Bar Habhallaha, city councillor, 297

John Lydus, magistrianus, 402

John Malalas, chronicler, xxx-xxxiv, 111, 433

John of Antioch, chronicler, xxxi

John of Ephesus, historian, xxii, xliv, 208, 293, 383

John of Urtaye, monastery of, xliv, 293, 296

John son of Comentiolus, 82

John the Hesychast, 502

Justin II, Roman emperor, 82

Justinian the Great, Roman emperor, xlii, 123, 257, 283, 309, 367, 404,
498

Justinian, magister militum per Orientem, 383
kanarang, 292

Karaca Dagh, see Mt. Aisouma

Karamuk river (Osrhoene), 380, Map II

Kardach (Carduchian) mountains, 440, Maps I, II

Khan al-Abyad (Phoenice Libanensis), xliv

Khusrau I, Sasanid king, 1 (note), 39, 82, 335, 353, 383, 440, 456

Kurds, 96

Lakhmid Arabs, xxxiii, xxxv, xxxvii, xxxix, xl, xlvi, xlvii, xlix, 99,

108, 267, 273, 276, 316, 317, 325, 327, 329, 333, 339, 341, 492,

502,509

land tax, see annona

Lazarus of Pharp, Armenian historian, 86, 443
Lebanon, Mt. (Phoenice Libanensis), 479, Map I
legio XVI Flavia Firma, 431

GENERAL INDEX

163

legio I Parthica Nisibena, 271

lentils, 194, 210, 501

Leo I, Roman emperor, 41, 60, 267, 268

Leo II, Roman emperor, 42

Leontius, city councillor of Amid, 291, 299

Limestone Massif (Syria I and II), 221, 501, 522, Map I

limitanei, 271, 392, 492

linen, 138

locusts, xi, xxxix, 157, 179, 181, 184, 186, 189, 191, 204, 249, 303
Longinus, brother of emperor Zeno, 100

magister militum per Armeniam, 283

magister militum per Orientem, xxxiii, xliv, 52, 481, 487 (?), 519

magister officiorum, 52, 392,486, 503, 539

Maiuma, public festival, xvi-xvii, xxxix, 120, 121, 138, 140, 142

Malbed of Barzane, Christian landowner, 189

Mamikonian, Armenian princely house, 443

mansio, xliv

Mar Abha, archbishop of Nisibis, 189

Mar Qona, archbishop of Edessa, 217 (cf. Edessa, Church of Mar
Qona)

Mar Shila, 537

Mar Z‘ura Gate (Amid), 321

Marcellinus Comes, chronicler, xxxiv, 293, 437, 438

Marcian, Roman emperor, 486

Marga (Arbayistan), 157, 179, Map I

Maronius, chorepiskopos, 471

Marqada (Osrhoene), xliii. Map II

martyrion of St. George (Zorava), xl

martyrion of St. Leontius (Daphne), 343

martyrion of the Theotokos (Amid), 296

Martyropolis (Sophene), xxxvi, 25, 208, 247, 253, 255, 257, 440, 444,
453, Maps I-III
Mazdakism, 85, 97
Mazices, Berber tribe, 89
meat, price of, 188, 195
Menander Protector, historian, 539
Menander Rhetor, 551

164

GENERAL INDEX

merchants, xli-xlii

migrants, migration, li, 213, 304, 305, 353, 400, 410, 493, 504
miliaresion 477.

military machine {manganikon), 285, 286, 293
Mithra, Iranian god, 44

monastery, xii, xiii, xxiv, xxvi, xl, xliii-xlv, 1, li, 161, 189, 194, 204,
208, 293, 296, 329

monks, 165, 173, 186, 189, 194, 204, 243, 293, 297, 374, 532
mosaic, xxxvi, xliii, xlv, li, 269, 300,469, 521
mound {agger\ 259, 260, 261, 262, 263, 356, 358
al-Mundhir II, Lakhmid king, 99

al-Mundhir III b. Ma’assama’, Lakhmid king, xxxiii, 341, 502
munera sordida, see forced labour
Myra (Lycia), 511

Narsai, Sasanid king, 32
nayarar, 86, 244

Neocaesarea (Pontus Polemoniacus), 163, 237, Map I
Nessana (Palaestina III), xxxiv (note), 22, 221
news sheet, xxxiii-xxxiv, xxxvi-xxxviii
Nimrud Dagh (territorium of Edessa), 374, Map IV
Nineveh (Arbayistan/Adiabene), 157, 179, Maps I, III
Nisanaya the monk, 184
Nobatae, Nubian tribe, 88

North Gate (Amid), xlv, 298, 444, Appendix, Map V
nosokomeion, see hospital

Notitia Dignitatum, 244, 260, 268, 271, 333, 391, 425, 519
numerus, xlii, xlv, 260, 266, 309, 325, 395, 420, 425, 436, 438, 442,
492,516,519
nummium, 205

oikonomos (manager), 469
Olba (Isauria), 54
olive culture, 194, 500
olive oil, 194, 198,313, 500
Olympia, public festival, 343
onager, 260, 287, 295
Oracle of Baalbek, 253

GENERAL INDEX

165

Oriens, Diocese of, 60, 253, 438,456, 476, Map I
Orontes river (Syria I and II), 492, Map I

Osrhoene, Roman province of, xxx-lv passim, 30, 113, 116, 126, 198,
199, 203, 208, 221, 253, 265, 308, 322, 335, 353, 354, 369, 389,
391, 393, 437, 448, 449, 465,466,476, 479, 486, 492,494, 500,
501,513,520, 544, Maps I, II

Palaestina I, Roman province of, 502, Map I

Palaestina II, Roman province of, 427

Palchus, astrologer, 60

Palestine, 206, 221, Map I

pandocheion (inn), xliii, 486

panegyric, 71

Papyrios, see Cherris

paygan, Sasanid infantry, 385

pedatura (TreSaToupa), xlvii, 295, 343

Peroz-Shapur (Arbayistan), 181

Persarmenia, see Armin

Peshitta, 26

Peter the Fuller, patriarch of Antioch, 151

Peter the Patrician, magister officiorum, 32, 35, 539

Petra (Colchis), 358

Philippi (Macedonia I), 22

Phoenice I, Roman province of, 237, Map I

Phoenice Libanensis, Roman province of, 309, 436, 479, 492, Map I

Phokas, Roman emperor, 253

phylarch, 326, 327, 492

pilgrimage, 476

plague, 127, 221

Pompeiopolis (Cilicia I), xlv

possession, 242

praesental armies, xxxvi, 307, 331, 333, 392, 402, 404, 407, 436, 438,
442, 465, 492, 503, 529

praetorian prefect of Oriens, liii, 152, 202, 239, 244, 311, 312, 422,
481,485, 489

presbyter, xlv, xlix, 213, 300, 448, 469, 479, 506, 511
prices, xxvi, li, 185, 193, 194, 195, 196, 206, 208, 501, 511
Prison of Oblivion, 104

166

GENERAL INDEX

Procopius of Caesarea, xv (note), xviii, xlix (note), xxxv-xxxvii, 1
(note), 44, 102, 104, 107, 243, 245, 255, 257, 260, 261, 263, 266,
283, 284, 292, 294, 295, 297, 307, 308, 310, 312, 316, 317, 319,
320, 324, 331, 332, 335, 342, 343, 346, 352, 353, 367, 389, 392,
393, 399, 401, 437, 439,442, 453, 456, 460, 464, 465, 544
Procopius of Gaza, xvi
proskynesis, 44

protector (domesticus), xxxiii, 392
proteichisma, 431
public opinion, 536

Qayum, Arab trader of Tella-Constantina, xlii (note)

gist, 198

Qotranga, 292

Qoulp river, 257, Maps I, II

Rabbula, archbishop of Edessa, xli-xlii
Ram-Kawad, 297
Rehovat (Palaestina III), 221
relics, 1 (note), li, 147, 357, 373
requisitions, 488, 489, 512, 519
Ripensis, 365

roads and routes, xli-xliii, xlvi-xlvii, 308, 317, 330, 332, 333, 342, 354,
390, 392, 404, 420, 421, 437, 440, 467, 486, 498, 529
Rufus of Ephesus, physician, 127
Rusafa-Sergiopolis (Euphratesia), 471, Map I

Sabir Huns, xliv, 393

sacrifice, pagan, xxxix-xl, 138,140, 339

salgamum, 488

Samuel, bishop of Telia, 486

sandbags, 358

Saphcha kleisoura (Arzanene), 257, Maps I, II
sapping walls, 426

satrap, satrapy, xxxvi, 25, 32, 182, 244, 245, 246, 255, 257, 266, 316,
406, 443

School of the Persians (Edessa), 141, Map IV
scorpion, see onager

GENERAL INDEX

167

Seert (Arzanene), 171, 440, Maps I, II
Seert, chronicle of, 179, 294, 297
Seleucia (Isauria), 66
Seleucid era, xlix, lii-liv
Seleucus I Nicator, liii

Sergius, archbishop of Rusafa-Sergiopolis, 471
Sergius, archimandrite, xliii
Sergius, presbyter of Theodoropolis, xlix
Sergius Bar Zabdhuni, city councillor, 297
Seventh Vision of Daniel, 253
Severus, patriarch of Antioch, 468
Shahba’, 325

Shapur II, Sasanid king, 33
shops, 131, 136, 152, 486
siege artillery, 286
siege towers, 287, 320, 322
Silko, 88

Silvinus, dux of Phoenice Libanensis, xliv-xlv
sluices, 281

soldiers, xviii (note), xxxviii, xliv, 1, 30, 201, 244, 253, 260, 263, 270,
297, 310, 314, 323, 324, 325, 346, 365, 369, 406, 407, 438, 442,
446, 449, 482, 485, 487, 489, 518, 526, 534, 536
soldiers’ bread, xxxiv, 201, 313
Solomon, Praetorian Prefect of Africa, 423
Sophene, xlvi, Iv, 167, 182, 257, 406, 408, 450, Maps I, II
sordida munera, see forced labour
soter, soteria (‘saviour’, ‘salvation’), 416, 481
Spanikios, see Sporakios
Sporakios, of the scholarian guards, 56
Stephen, bishop of Theodoropolis, xlix
Strategikon of Maurice, 512
striker, see siege artillery
Sumatar Harabesi (Osrhoene), xl

supplies, procurement and movement of, xxxiv, xxxvii, 312, 313, 314,
353, 400, 406, 422, 423,449,460, 467, 485, 492
Sura (Euphratesia), 208, 431,471, Maps I, II
Symeon Stylites the Elder, 479

168

GENERAL INDEX

Talakan, 44

Talmis (Dodecaschoenus), 88
Tanukhid Arabs, 325
Tar‘atha, Syrian goddess, xxxix
Taron (Persarmenia), 443, Map I
Tarsus (Cilicia I), 60, Map I
Taurus mountains, 49, 51, 257, 282, 404, Map I
tax, taxation, xxxi-xxxiii, liii, 46, 144, 145, 197, 198, 202, 244, 257,
401,448, 449,517, 544
tax remission, xxxiii, li, 401, 448, 449, 544
Tayk’ (Persarmenia), 443
Tektek Dagh, xl, 276, 325, 332, 355, 531, Map II
Telanissos (Syria I), 479

territorium, xxxv, xxxix, xli-xliii, xlv-xlvi, xlix-li, 181, 189, 199, 208,
269, 277, 291, 300, 323, 324, 353, 373, 394, 401, 444, 471, 489,
492,511,515,518, 531
Tespon, see Ctesiphon
Thannourios (Osrhoene), xlii, 520, Map II
Theodore, comes, 323
Theodore, satrap of Sophene, 255, 257
Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 70, 76, 519
Theodoropolis, see Anasartha

Theophanes Confessor, chronicler, xxxi, xxxv, 42, 44, 48, 56, 57, 59,
60, 65, 102, 104, 163, 293, 307, 312, 325, 327, 379, 391, 392, 422
Theophylact Simocatta, historian, 383
Thessalonica (Macedonia I), 375
Thilasamon (territorium of Amid), 324
Thomas, archbishop of Apamea, 1 (note), 149
topos, xxvii (note), 8, 12, 111, 261, 306
trade, 208, 486

transhumance, xli-xlii, 322, 471
Transtigritane satrapies, 32
Treaty of 298/9 with Persia, 32, 35
Treaty of 363 with Persia, 33, 90

Treaty of 506 with Persia, xxxiv, xlix, 96,466, 486, 502, 507, 539, 543
Tripolitania, 89

Tripyrgia sector (Amid), 292, 459, Map V
tubbaha (‘striker’), 286

GENERAL INDEX

169

Tur ‘Abdin (Mt. Izala, Mesopotamia), xxxvii, xlix, 18, 179, 208, 265,
266, 269, 276, 308, 317, 322, 333, 440, 441, 451, 454, 467, 479,
Map II
turban, 139

Tyre (Phoenice I), Ivi, Map I

al-‘Uzza, Arabian goddess, 339

Vahan I Mamikonian, Armenian prince, 443
Vandals, 87

vegetable crops, 179, 184, 187, 194, 210, 226, 291, 501
Vegetius, Roman author on tactics, 272
Veh-az-Amid-Kawad, 297
Verina Augusta, Roman empress, 60
Vesuvius, Mt., 171

villages, xlvi, 1, li, 189, 243, 246, 269, 300, 322, 323, 324, 329, 353,
394, 412, 440, 444, 453, 471, 479,496, 501, 511, 518, 537, Map IV
The Vision of Arday Viraz, 77
viticulture, xxxix, 194, 208, 210, 224, 291, 329

Wadila, comes, 519

Wa’ir, bishop of Zorava (Arabia), 221

West/Halab Gate (Harran), 277

wheat, li, 113, 114, 116, 198, 291,485,501

women, xl, 18, 85, 104, 263, 374, 451, 487

Ya‘qub, monk of Endielion (Mespotamia or Sophene), 243
Yazdgard II, Sasanid king, 39
Yazid (?), Arab shaykh, 435

Zabdicene, 18, Map II

Zachariah, pseudo-, xiii (note), xxxv-xxxvii, xlv, 96, 245, 261, 262,
263, 284, 292, 293, 296, 297, 299, 319, 322, 324, 444, 466, 512, 544
Zaira da-Sacharae (Osrhoene), 208
Zandhaprokh, Christian landowner (Arbayistan), 189
Zenobius, steward, 291
Zorava (Arabia), xl, 221, Map I

170

GENERAL INDEX

Zoroastrianism, 34,44,45, 77, 83, 85, 86, 91, 263, 389
al-Zuhra, Arabian goddess, 339

MAPS

Map I The Diocese of Oriens (source: J. B. Bury, History of the
Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius the Great
to the Death of Justinian, vol. II [London, 1923])

Map II Osrhoene and Mesopotamia

Map III The Western Sasanid Domains (source: map on p. 748 of
Yarshater, E. [ed.]. The Cambridge History of Iran III/2
[Cambridge, 1983]).

Map IV Edessa and Territorium (based on Plan I in J. B. Segal,
Edessa, The Blessed City' [Oxford, 1970], reproduced by kind
permission of Oxford University Press)

Map V Amid (sources: figures 68 and 69 in Albert Gabriel, Voyages
archeologiques dans la Turquie orientale, vol. I [Paris, 1940];
and Fig. 1 in M. van Berchem and J. Strzygowski, Amida
[Heidelberg, 1910])

Sinope

EUXINE

SEA

Phasis

Amisus

Trapezus

ARMENIA

INTERIOR

Erzerum-

Theodosiopolia

CHORZANE

^Martyropolis^^
BS Seaftp^

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(CAPPADOCIA I)

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y/ Sergiopoli

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tircesium

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.Damascus

(PHOENICE

iLIBANENSIS)

rava

Bostra

MAP I

The Diocese of Oriens

COLCHIS

Antiocn^bri^

(SYRlAm«

LIMESTONE /

MASSIF. C . //^
^ Apameiaftt^

^CYPRUS

^UYKKUb Epiphanelf

MEDITERRANEAN

SEA

(PHOENICE I) [

APtolemais
Caesareai Acre
Maritimap

(PALAESTINAI)

Jerusalemo A

Ctesiphon^

Babylono

Al-Hirtai

(Hirta)

Aleppo-Bercia

Anasartha

Principal Roads
Province Capital
Town or Fortress

200 km

MAP II

Osrhoene and Mesopotamia

Caspian

ARRAN

WIROZAN

Batiaqan o

ARMENIA

INTERIOR

euefiistei

^Erzerum-/^^
Theodosiopolis ,—v

ARMIN

(PERSv^MENIA)

Bardha'ao

Nakhchawan

Martyropolis

ADURBADAGAN

(ALBANIA)

y,Lake

\Urmia_^

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Nineveh

Hatrao

Circesium

Ctesiphon

KHUZISTAN

PARS

PERSIAN

GULF

EUXINE

SEA

Phasis

Darband

Amide

Resh'aina

CASPIAN

SEA

Al-Hira<

(Hirta)

MAP III

The Western Sasanid Domains

f To Amid

To Samosata

MAP IV

Edessa and Territorium

Tella-

Constatina

Cave Tomb with Greek
Christian Inscription
(See Note 374)

To Tella-
Constatina

Church of the
Confessors?
(See note 373)

Dam

Original Bed
of River

Cave Tomb with .
Syriac Christian yy
Inscriptions yy
(see note 374)

Samosata
\Gate II

!— \\ [village of Bekin?
S \\^(see§60)

’Church of Sts Sergius
and Simion (or Symeon)?

To Batnan-Serug

Cave Tombs with
Syriac Inscriptions
(see note 521)

West Gate ?
(Gate of the
Arches) \

'll Church of
'§t Thomas
(Gmat Church)

Martyrion of
St Mary^^

Church of John
the Baptist &

“ St Addai?
Roman Law
Courts & Basilica

Church of the
Twelve Apostles

Church of
St Sergius?

-Great Gate

.LOWER

ACROPOLIS

Water!

Gate?

f □ \c

School of N
the Persians?

□ Tetrapylon

'Winter Baths

jaTheatre?

UPPER ACROPOLIS

NIMRUD DAGH

Praetorium?

(Segal, Edessa, 120)

.Water

Gates?

Martyrion of
Saints Cosmas
and Damian

oftf
as \
an \

""mam Extant Fortifications
..... Circuit Wall
■f Church
□ Public Buildings
• Other Installations and Sites

The location of the villages Maudad,
Negbath-Kephar-Selem and Tell-Zema is unknown

Beth Shemesh Gate
(Gate of the
Theatre?)

Hospice and House
of the Paupers
and Lepers

1 I

To Harran^

400

800 metres

village of Kubbe? (see §60)
fcf. Luther, Chronik, 199.)

Road to Kharput
and Melitene

©Spring

Edessa (Urfa)
■Gate

Monastery of ^
St. John of Urtaye?

Great Christian
Cemetery of 503

^ North (Kharput)

Great Mosque
(Site of Church
of the Forty Martyrs?)

□

Site of
Agora?

V-

►

r' cC

^ <

^ ■ * ft

Nestorian I ^
Monastery! ^
(5th c.)

ACROPOLIS

Small'

Gate

^ t/i

^ \ O Church of Mar

Edessa Road \ Jacobite Church C3 Cosmas and
across MountX of the Virgin Danian (7th c.)
A'souma \ (7th c.)

(see note 467)

New Gatej

Road to

Tigris River \
0.5 kilometres ^

Mardin

Gate/

® 4

-V''

Baltic

E s

Tigris River
1 kilometre

MAPV

Amid

Road to Mardin,
Telia, and Dara
across Tur 'Abdin

500 metres

\ Tigris Bridge to
'V Martyropolis, Sophene
and Arzanene, 100 metres

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